Intermission
by The Blade of Osh-Tekk
Summary: Ever wanted to be in Code Lyoko? Well, this is the hard truth of what it's like. But think of your presence as an intermission. A guiding force of some sorts.
1. Chapter 1 - There are no accidents

A/N: Believe me, I cannot believe I'm doing this. I never thought I'd actually do it, but this is going up. Right now, I'm going back and forth between a lot of stories, and another one really puts on the pressure. But since I'm such a big Code Lyoko fan, not writing this would be a major disservice. At least in my book. And I don't feel like I could wait to write it. Anyway, here we go! P.S.: In my opinion, I don't think the cussword 'fuck' does not warrant a M rating. So I will not leave it as such.

* * *

Accidents happen. At least that's what some people believe to explain misfortunes and wild anomalies. I however, am not such a person. Everything happens for a reason is another phrase people believe to explain things. I am such a believer. From getting scammed by being such a dumbass to it not snowing during the winter. Some things I could explain, some I couldn't. This is one of those situations I could not explain. I couldn't even begin to comprehend it.

Lying directly on my back, I rolled over as my back felt particularly sore this morning. I was supporting myself with my hands and knees while my face was looking directly at the ground. But the ground looked... strange to say the least. More or less, it was digital ground.

Moving my hand across it, it felt like moving my hand across a smooth surface rather than a hard and rocky one. To say the least, it was really unnerving.

"Have I been drugged?" I said to myself as I stood up. I looked around me. Only thing around me were trees and ground. The occasional rocks scattered in various places made for a very plain look for a forest. Question was, why was I here?

"Ok, since my dreams only kick in for about a minute before I wake up, either that changed or this is real," I said, immediately dismissing the second idea. I knew that Code Lyoko was just a show, not a real thing. Well, it was probably real somewhere if you believed in different types of universes and shit like that. Likely I was having a very vivid dream right now. Though it wasn't at all unpleasant.

I examined the outfit I was wearing and, to my immense delight, I was wearing the ceremonial Jedi robes from the Force Unleashed video game.(Yes, I am a Star War nerd) These robes were beyond amazing to look at, and even better to wear. Badass, and surprisingly comfortable. Yeah, this had to be a dream. It was catering too much to my imagination.

I looked on my belt, but surprisingly, there was no lightsaber at the hilt. I frowned slightly before looking around my body for some type of weapon. I could see the end of a blade on either side of my back and I unconsciously reached for where I thought the grips were. I didn't take them out of the hilts that they were in, but it was weird enough just having them there. I did a lot of pretending when I was younger, but it was never actually real.

Then I could feel a weird tingling sensation itching at the back of my skull. It wasn't uncomfortable, but it was more like someone put a massager against my skull. I turned around to see a group of small monsters approaching me. They were the small monsters that I always neglected to remember the name of. Let's face it. They were always the most incompetent of the monsters in the show. They were... Kankrelats. That was the name of em.

But whatever they were, they were not friendly. This much I knew. I had two options. Run like a bitch, or figure out how to use my weapons. Since I couldn't really die, I had nothing to worry about. Though, dream or not, I didn't fancy getting shot at.

I drew both of my swords and held them in an awkward kind of stance. I was trying to mimic the kind of stuff I saw in movies, but my stance was all off. I did not think it was a big deal. I figured out real quick how helpful a good stance is.

The three Kankrelats that were pursuing me had walked up to me decided to use me for target practice and started shooting. I moved my blades awkwardly in an attempt to block the lasers, but it was all for naught. The shots didn't hit me. I remember these things were never the best of shots. But they could keep the fire up relentlessly.

The shots that did reach me I managed to block a few of them before my awkward stance, naivety in a fight and with swords, and sloppy movements caused me to fall down and get hit with a shot in my knee.

"Ah, fuck!" I exclaimed, trying to keep my swords in my hand. But then my eyes widened. Wait. That hurt like hell. Which meant that this was not a dream. This takes my shitty luck to a whole nother level. Running was now the first thing on my mind.

I holstered the swords back in their respective spots before taking off running in the opposite direction of these things. Now I was even more glad that these things weren't the best of shots. If I had a crab, a block, or god forbid, a tank, I'd be toast. Burnt ass toast.

I kept running and refused to look back, cause I was not like the stupid white bitches you saw in horror movies. I don't need to look back. I know what's back there. Death. Death is behind me. So keep running, don't trip over shit, and you won't die. Simple.

Up ahead of me, I could see that I was approaching a deactivated tower. Which meant that I wasn't walking in the middle of a big XANA attack or some shit. Thank God for that.

The tower didn't reject me and I was able to run inside and catch my breath. I knew that the creatures couldn't get in deactivated towers, so I was safe. I'd be more concerned if I had tanks chasing me. Then again, if I had tanks chasing me, I probably wouldn't have made it here in the first place.

Once my heart rate stabled to a more steady pace, I proceeded to silently freak out over the fact that I had somehow ended up in the Code Lyoko universe, where I was more likely to meet my death than my world. It was fucked up, but it didn't have weird looking monsters spitting lasers at you or psychotic AIs taking control over man made and organic life alike, twisting them to do its evil bidding. And considering the only thing I was good for in the real world involving physical abilities was running, I'd have to learn how to fight quick, or I was screwed.

 _"Ok, ok. Now, since I have no idea how to defend myself, and I don't know if life points regenerate while spending enough time in Lyoko, I'm as good as stuck here if I didn't want to die,"_ I thought to myself.

I sat where I was directly in the center of the tower and laid on my back. When I imagined what it would be like to be in Lyoko and what powers would I have, I didn't think it would _actually happen!_

I pulled a sword out of a holster had it elevated in my field of vision. Regardless of being in a fucked up situation, I had two cool swords. That I didn't know how to use. Which made my options for getting out of here very slim.

I didn't want to practice with them in case I ended up accidentally killing myself with them. Cause I thought of Lyoko just like any other video game. And in most games, you can die if someone shoots you in the foot if your health is low enough, or in this case, life points.

If I didn't need food, I could just chill out here until the Lyoko kids showed up. I'd be able to get some help and possibly a ride back to the real world. Maybe if that happens, I could get back to my own universe. Then again, I did not want to end up in the real world of Lyoko, where I had far less options to run, hide, and survive from XANA's random attacks. Say what you want about the AI, but it had a lot of ideas to try and kill people. Irritating and completely futile, but he had a vast number of them and they were completely unpredictable. For the most part I would say.

I smiled at a thought that came to mind. I knew what was coming before it even happened. At least in a lot of the major episodes. Getting Jeremy to focus on Sector 5 early on, make sure that Aelita got here early, hopefully before XANA can steal a piece of her that binds her to the supercomputer. There would so many benefits. If anything, my presence here would only help things out. Though I got to make sure not to be corrupted by XANA myself. Or end up dying in the process. Either way, I had a goal. But first, I had to wait for the Lyoko gang to show up.

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A/N: Short, but it's about all I can do right now. I was extremely fucking tired when I wrote this. Had to edit this at a later date. Anyway, I hope this story goes somewhere. I am a wannabe of fanfictions at best in my eyes. I'm doing my best here.


	2. Chapter 2 - Trying to Fight

Episode References: Cruel Dilemma

* * *

I sat in a meditating position in the middle of the tower, trying my best to find some type of peace. Ok, that was a lie. I was trying to see if I had any powers. Just having swords would be extremely boring. But I would have a hard enough time learning to use those. And I couldn't take any risks when it came to living in Lyoko.

I couldn't defend myself, and I didn't want to de-materialize and kill myself by dropping the sword on my foot or something. But I needed _some_ grasp of fighting.

 _"If I screw up, I'm stopping. Hopefully I'll live after the fact to learn my lesson,"_ I thought to myself, pulling out one sword. Holding it in front of my face, I then held it in front of me defensively before closing my eyes.

I moved my sword from right to left in the form of strikes while holding my sword firmly with both hands. My strikes weren't sloppy and neither was my form, but my strikes were extremely slow. If I was fighting someone, they'd hit me before I could get my sword halfway to their body. It's like I had a Kenjutsu tutor in the back of my head, wordlessly criticizing everything I do. Hey, I was far from perfect. But I had to learn.

I decided to try and speed it up by moving my sword like I've seen lightsaber strikes from Star Wars. Strikes that originate from the bottom or the side and meet in the middle, but moving quick and maintaining a firm stance without losing balance. I'm pretty sure that if you lost your stance, you'd be thrown off balance by the power of your opponent's strike. (This is literally my guesswork. I do not know for sure)

I concentrated and focused my strikes to move swiftly, yet accurately as if I was fighting an actual person in front of me. I imagined that my opponent was deflecting my strikes with swift precision. I kept my footing and was advancing while moving in circles around on the platform of the tower.

I also pretended that my opponent held my blade on one side with all of his strength so he could lash out with his foot and trip up my left leg, which is the one I put all my weight on to make sure I didn't get overcome by his blade.

I jumped his foot and his blade quickly moved over to my face, to which I moved my sword quickly to meet it. I grit my teeth and used my entire body to push the blade toward him and press my advantage.

At first it was a struggle to who could overpower who, but then, with a speed I didn't even know I had, I grabbed the blade that was on my back and stabbed him directly in the gut. I shook my head.

"Well, I beat up an imaginary swordsman. That didn't really help me much," I said to myself, pacing around the tower. I put one of my swords back on my back and focused back on keeping my stance while striking swiftly, yet keeping my stance so I didn't get overpowered. There was a problem with this though.

My 'training' was focused a single target with a blade. And I have not forgotten that all of the monsters XANA has are laser based. I had to be able to read where the monsters were going to fire and meet that spot. Deflect it back at them if I could. Man, there was a lot more to swordplay than just precisely swinging a sword.

I sighed and knew that my imagination wouldn't help me much there. The firing pattern on the monsters was unpredictable, and me imagining that they were going toward my body would not help me against them if I were to actually fight them. That would take field experience. Field experience I was too scared to try right now.

I put my sword back in the socket and went back to a meditating position. That's one thing that I know how to do that would calm me.

 _Three days later_

I sighed. Pretty much the only thing I had been doing was meditating and having nothing to entertain myself but what was in my thoughts, which got stale after a while. I didn't need food cause I didn't go hungry after the first 5 minutes of being here, which was about the accurate time when hunger start to set in. With me at least. Pretty ironic considering I'm as skinny as a toothpick.

 _"Ok, the only thing that's remotely interesting to do in this place is to kill monsters, and I've pretty much got nothing else to try. Oy. I pray that I don't get swarmed. But if I don't die from the monsters, I'll die from boredom,"_ I thought. I took the deepest breath I ever thought possible and walked out of the safety of the tower. I instantly drew my sword and held it in front of me the whole time I was walking. Gratefully, it didn't seem that any of XANA's creatures had come out to kill me, so that was good.

As I kept walking, I kept my sword at my side, but I didn't feel like I was going to suddenly get shot in the gut. Felt nice to stretch my legs too. At one point, I could see... Aelita and Odd? Oh, God. I knew for a fact something was up. Whatever it was, it was not good in the slightest. And there was a number of Kankrelats surrounding them. Even worse. I was easily a good distance away. Not really anything I can do.

 _"Let the Force flow through you."_

I frowned. For some reason, that quote came to mind, and I could not give a good reason as to why. I looked over to a bunch of wide branches. I tightened both of my hands and mindlessly started to run. I didn't think about it.

 _"What the hell am I even thinking?"_ I thought. I jumped and landed on a branch before I began moving from branch to branch like I suddenly became a Shinobi in Naruto. But somehow my mindless movement was making this easy.

Climbing up a tree with a both of my swords, I scrambled to the top and saw that the Kankrelats had forced Odd by himself while Aelita was scrambling towards the tower.

"Shit, I need to keep moving," I said to myself as I kept climbing up the tree.

I leaped onto a walkway and ran as fast I could toward Odd, and I felt my feet propel me at an almost missile like speed toward the monsters. I drew my sword and hit the thing from behind to slice it in half, which made it immediately explode. My sword was out at my side and my face was looking directly at the ground.

"Assassinated," I said with a small proud smile. The rush of that felt nothing less that exhilarating.

"Jeremy, did Ulrich decide on a change of attire?" I could hear Odd ask. I stood straight up and eyed Odd and Yumi, who was behind him. I smiled immediately at the sight them and pointed my sword towards the tower. This was beyond cool.

"We need to keep moving," I said, dashing toward Aelita and the activated tower she was going toward. But I could see the mega tank that was in front of her. That reminded me of what episode this was.

"Aw, fuck," I said immediately upon sight of that thing. I propelled my feet to move as fast as I could. To be honest, I was getting scared that something stupid like a random banana peel or something would cause me to slip and fall off the ledge, but I managed to stay on target and continue toward the tank.

But as I was in mid-run, my eyes flashed and I suddenly saw an image of myself writhing in pain on a bed. That threw me way the fuck off and I ended up getting tangled up in my legs and nearly fell of the edge. I barely had a grip on the ledge when I feel, and I was scrambling like a panicked cat try to get back up.

"Why am I not surprised?!" I exclaimed, trying my best to not lose my grip on the ledge. Then the tank turned from Aelita and decided that I was a better target.

"Not good, not good, not good!" I exclaimed. God, I now regret now being the worst at pull-ups in gym. I struggled to try and raise myself up without falling. But I could see that the tank was about to fire and there was really one option. The tree that was to the side of me. I would have to jump to it.

"Hang on!" I could hear Odd yell, but I decided to go with my plan before I changed my mind.

Hoping that I could summon the same kind of acrobatic skill that I had before, I jumped from the ledge right before the tank fired while drawing my sword in mid-air. But the blast from the tank had hit my left arm and threw me off course. I ended up having to plant the sword into the ground to hold on for dear life, my arm feeling like it was on fire. The sensation numbed down after a while.

"Gah! Could not have cut that more close!" I said, refusing to look down. I looked back at the tank, which had it's attention focused on Odd, who was ahead of Yumi on the walkway.

It readied its laser when Odd made a leap with his hand outstretched. He fired his arrow at the same time the tank opened fire. The laser arrow missed the tank's target spot, but the tank was spot on and took out Odd immediately. I grunted frustratingly. This was not getting any better.

Then all of a sudden, lasers had fired from above near my hands and I nearly lost my grip from the shock of it. Looking up, I could see that three hornets were flying above me, trying their best to try and shoot me off.

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!" I roared in frustration. What are the chances XANA gets extra monsters since I'm here?!

 _"Let it flow. In all of your actions."_ Trying to take that advice to heart, I pushed on the ledge really hard and I shot up like a top. So far up, that I ended up on height with the Hornets. Not missing the opportunity, I drew one of my swords and sliced the nearest one to me with my blade.

"Don't think. Just feel," I told myself. For whatever reason, I was reminded of all of these quotes that involved acting on instinct. The crazy thing is is that they were working. Cause I was learning unnaturally quick. Quicker than I could've ever predicted.

The Hornets began flying like pissed off wasps at me and I dove forward between the lasers instead of dodging or deflecting them. They then decided to try and take care of Yumi after she missed one of the Hornets with her fan.

"Take care of these things. I've got Aelita," I told Yumi before running as fast as I could toward Aelita, who was preoccupied by the tank. I just had to make sure not to hit this thing as to where I would fall off.

When the thing was reared up for a blast, I hit it from the back, but at the same time, the laser still ended up firing and I got knocked into a tree from my right arm. This was not the best day to be my arms.

"Oh, man. Yup. That hurt a lot worse," I groaned, trying my best to get back on my feet. I clenched my right hand in an attempt to try and get some feeling back into it, but that took a while. At least the tank was out of the way.

Then I felt a sharp pain in my right leg while I was on the ground and I clenched my right hand even harder and pounded the ground several times. Only one hornet was here, which likely meant Yumi was dealing with the other one.

"Why me?" I asked in a desperate tone before getting to my feet shakily and grabbing my sword. I raised it shakily and tried to find the combat position I was practicing earlier.

The Hornet stood still in place and was firing lasers down on me. I moved my sword in the direction in which I thought the lasers were going, and I ended up deflecting every one, which surprised me. I then was hoping I could deflect them in a way that I could get them to hit the Hornet.

I heard a yell from Yumi and she had thrown a fan in the Hornet's direction, but it ended up seeing her about to throw the fan and it moved out of the way in time. It started getting tired of this game real quick, so it flew over me and sprayed acid down on me, to which I couldn't dodge in time and got hurt real bad. Worst part? It felt like I just put my hand on a stove preheated to 450 degrees. Trust me, I know how bad that burns.

"Ah! Fuck, that hurts!" I exclaimed, falling into a kneel and my sword digging into the ground. Looking out of the corner of my eye, I could see that the Hornet was coming back around and it's tail was charging for a laser. I couldn't even find the strength to raise my sword.

Good news. As soon as the thing fired, Yumi's fan came out of nowhere and hit the Hornet dead on, destroying it instantly. Bad news. Laser had hit me dead in my back and I had frozen with my back arched up and my mouth slightly agape. The shock from the sensation quickly turned into an even expression.

"Well shit," I said before I de-materialized.

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A/N: You know there's going to be more to this? I mean, I wouldn't try and waste my time on a two-shot. I feel really invested to make a story, so that's what you're gonna get. Anyway, hope anyone who even shares a remote interest in this story enjoyed this.


	3. Chapter 3 - Speaking the Future

_"Patient's signs are dropping. Awaiting instruction."_

 _"We will not lose this opportunity so easily. Prepare the revival techniques we discussed."_

 _"His vitals are already dropping. One bad step and..."_

 _"We will take the risk. Prepare it now."_

 _"Yes sir. Preparing resuscitation process now._ _And clear."_

 _"No response."_

 _"Start it up again."_

 _"And clear."_

 _"No response."_

 _"Once last time."_

 _"And clear!_ _Still no response."_

 _"Begin manual resuscitation."_

Next thing I knew, I felt the sensation that world was crashing down around me. I blinked rapidly and saw that the ground below me was quickly getting closer. Then my eyes widened. I was falling!

 _"Land on your feet! Land on your feet!"_ I exclaimed in my head. I adjusted my body so that my feet would hit the ground first. I braced my legs for the impact, but I got nothing, making me almost fall down once I landed.

"No fall damage? Huh. I'll take it," I said, grabbing my chest to make sure that me being still alive wasn't just an illusion. I couldn't believe I was still here. After I got shot by that Hornet, I thought I was done for. I had a hard time processing I was alive.

Then my eyes widened. Did... did they give up the materialization code for me? Unbelievable. So me trying to speed up Aelita's virtualization so this could be over and done with faster didn't change a damn thing cause I ended up getting killed. The more things change, the more they stay the same I guess.

 _"But hey. I managed to kill some monsters. About half of them were distracted by something, but I'll take it,"_ I thought.

I wheeled around to see that no one was around me. They didn't return to the past, cause that was unnecessary and it would make XANA more powerful. So I could assume everyone was safe. Even me.

Then my face broke into a wide grin. I was alive. I was alive! Fucking A!

I fist pumped the air in celebration. It was hard to fucking believe that I survived a battle in this place. My survivability skills in Lyoko were negligible at best, and abso-fucking-lutely shitty at worst. But I made it.

But there was nothing else left for me here. Might as well head back to the nearest tower I could find. So I started walking to try and find a tower to rest in. The whole time I was walking, I was deep in thought.

 _"Well, that didn't help at all. Though I can say for certain that I'm getting better at this shit. But it's likely the Lyoko group doesn't know who I am, where I came from..."_

"Excuse me," a soft voice suddenly said. But it was very much familiar.

I looked up quickly to see that Aelita was in front of me. I could easily say that Aelita was definitely the most kind hearted out of everyone in the group. But she was also a little naïve, which would be a problem. Hopefully by being the very brash son of a bitch that I was, it would help out with that. Hopefully.

But you never get many people like Aelita anymore. In today's society, it's 'on the blood' this, or 'on God' that, and not only does it irritate me, it outright pisses me off sometimes. (Ugh, believe me. It disgusts me that this is the generation that I'm part of it. It seems like ever since we got democracy, people just decided to act like fucking idiots)

But I couldn't help but throw up a smile at the sight of the girl. Nice to see a friendly face when we aren't being shot at.

"Hello. How are you?" I asked politely.

"Hello to you too. I'm ok, I suppose. Thank you for asking," Aelita said, somehow even more politely than me. "But... who are you?"

"Oh, forgive me. Robert Morgan is my name. You may not know me, but I know you. I know you and all of your friends. If that sounds creepy, I don't blame you," I said before chuckling.

"A little. But how do you know us?" Aelita asked.

"It'll save me time if you can somehow you can get everyone here. You do know how to alert his computer, right?" I asked. She nodded.

"I just need to get to a tower. The nearest one is in the opposite directing you were going," Aelita said, pointing behind me. I face palmed.

"Of course it happens to be the direction that I'm NOT going toward. Great," I said, shaking my head before smoothly turning on my heel and moving in the opposite direction.

"So how do you know us?" Aelita asked me.

"Like I said, it'll save me time if I tell you all at once," I told her.

"We have time," Aelita said reasonably.

"But you won't be surprised when I tell everyone else, now will you?" I said with a playful smirk on my face. I loved messing with people like this.

"Sounds like something Odd would do," Aelita said.

"He could never hope to meet this level of deviousness. Or vicious thoughts," I said as an afterthought before connecting my fingers together and morphing my face into a devious expression like I was a cliche villain.

"You look... slightly evil," Aelita said.

"That is very much what I was aiming for," I said, my devious smile turning into one more genuine. "But trust me, I'm a joker at heart."

"Then in that regard, you and Odd will get along well," Aelita said. "That is, if they trust you as much as I do."

"To be honest, I wouldn't surprised if they shot me on sight cause I look so out of place, but I'm gonna try. Uh, don't judge me if I end up slicing one of them. Though it's unlikely," I said, remembering the shoddy battle that happened I don't know how long ago.

"I'm sure it'll be fine. They're all pretty understanding people," Aelita said.

"Yeah, I know. They're pretty easy to get along with, but cause of XANA, it's kind of hard to make new friends I can tell," I said, before deciding to change the subject. "Got any questions for me? Ones that don't involve me revealing my story to early." Aelita had her mouth open, but quickly shut it when I said that last sentence.

"Well, I assume you lived in France before you ended up in Lyoko," Aelita said. "Did you?"

"No. In the United States in the state of Arkansas," I said. "Not really much, but it's home."

"There's not too much information on the outside world here. As far as school subjects are concerned, I am pretty well supplied, but when it comes to vocabulary, geography, and other things, I can find myself lacking in that regard," Aelita explained.

"I'm sure there are some things you can teach me, but we'll save that for later," I said. She nodded.

"Well, you'll likely be in here as long as me, so we may as well turn this into a learning experience," Aelita said.

"Looking forward to it. But I can definitely say that I would have fun killing monsters at times," I said.

"Just how do you find that fun?" Aelita asked.

"When you can fight back, you'll know why. Trust me, that day will come. Just trust me on that," I said, patting her on the shoulder reassuringly.

"Ok, but I still don't think I would find it fun," Aelita said.

"Fair enough Lita," I said, before holding my arms at my sides. "Like the nickname?"

"Nickname? You basically just dropped the a and e in my name," Aelita said, making me smirk.

"Hey, I said it was a nickname. I didn't say it was a creative one!" I said, making her giggle.

"Yeah, you and Odd are definitely gonna get along," Aelita said, barely able to stay upright from her laughter. I held her up under her arms and looked at her in a joking frantic manner.

"You're not gonna fall over, are you?" I said, a smirk playing at my lips. She smiled and her laughter subsided.

"No, I'm fine," she assured me.

"Good. Cause I'm not the strongest person in the world to drag you over to the tower," I told her. Then I could feel a buzzing sensation in the back of my head. It reminded me of the first time I arrived on Lyoko and got chased by Kankrelats. Which meant, nothing good was coming our way.

I quickly wheeled around while drawing a sword in the blink of an eye. I was getting a lot better at doing that. Aelita looked at me with a worried expression on her face.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"I dunno. I felt... a disturbance," I said, which was the closest word to the sensation I was feeling. "It does not bear good tidings."

"Well, the tower's not far from here. We can run to it from here," Aelita said.

"Good idea," I said, holstering my sword and ran right next to Aelita. For some strange reason, when I'm trying to keep up with her, I felt... slower than normal. It was weird.

But it wasn't long before the two of us had to screech to a halt because there were two crabs were blocking our way. They didn't even move, and they had us completely blocked off.

"Ugh. A trap. XANA was waiting for us," I told her.

"Any ideas?" Aelita asked. I frowned. Between the crabs, there was a small space. Maybe...

"You know that song you use to manipulate the turf?" I asked her.

"My Creativity song, yes. What do you have in mind?" Aelita asked.

"If you can set up two big rock cages to divide the two crabs, we'll have a space just big enough for us to fit through," I told her.

"I'll certainly try," Aelita said, before I could feel the back of my head tingle again. I turned around only to see that XANA was spawning two more crabs behind us from on top, and they landed with a heavy sound.

"Great. XANA, you are the biggest shithead ever," I growled before holding my sword in front of me, ready for a fight. But the crabs did nothing, which made me skeptical.

"They aren't attacking," Aelita said.

"All the more reason to trap those things so we can get to the tower," I told her, watching the crabs' every move, looking out of the corner of my eye every once in a while to keep an eye on the ones behind me.

She nodded and she broke out into her song to try and trap the crabs. But all four crabs fired at the same time she attempted this and I blocked three of the shots while the fourth one hit me in my knee. I groaned in pain.

"Holy hell, that hurts," I grunted. Aelita's concentration was broken and she looked at me in concern.

"You ok?" she asked. I grunted before the pain numbed and I stood on my feet again.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I wonder why they're just keeping us here," I asked.

"It can't be good, whatever it is," Aelita said, before I heard a loud screech that made my eyes widen. Aelita quickly stood up from her kneeling position and frantically looked around.

"What was that?" she asked.

"I think I know. I just hope I'm wrong," I said. Then I saw familiar tentacles come into view. The crabs in front of me moved to the side to let the Scyphozoa through.

"No, no, no! This is way too early!" I said in frustration before a horrifying thought came to mind. _"Is he getting more powerful... cause I'm here?"_ The thought itself was worrying.

"What is that thing?" Aelita asked, reeling back from it.

"The Scyphozoa. It shouldn't be here. Listen to me. Whatever you do, do NOT get into that thing's grasp," I told her as it was slowly approaching us.

"Well, we have to get out of here!" she said in a panic.

 _"You know what will happen if it gets her. Act!"_ my mind screamed at me. Acting on instinct, I picked her up and ran in the opposite direction. The crabs in that direction then began firing at me, but I had no time to apologize as I threw Aelita up past the crabs and got blasted back by the lasers as I had no time to react once I did.

My chest felt like a fat man was sitting it while I had heartburn as I slowly rose to my feet. I balled my right hand into a fist and pounded the ground.

 _"Ignore the pain. Get up!"_ I told myself. I rose to my feet and quickly looked behind me as the Scyphozoa was feet from me. I quickly scrambled back as I saw Aelita was still standing there.

"Run!" I yelled at her, drawing my second sword as I was disarmed of my first one cause of the force from the lasers. The crabs behind my fired at my right shoulder, and I grunted with pain before ignoring it the best I could and standing up to run away from the Scyphozoa.

The crabs had started firing again, but this time I was able to find strength in my legs and jump over the lasers before landing on the one on my right. I quickly made an X slice on the targeting on the crab before jumping off and running off as fast as I could. I heard the crab blow up shortly after.

"Force Sprint!" I exclaimed, hoping that I didn't sound dumb saying that. But I didn't as I quickly felt my speed increase and I quickly saw that the trees around me were nothing more than a blur.

I was quickly catching up to Aelita and I managed to grab her and put her on my back without losing my stride. How in the hell did I do that?

"How are you..."

"I have no idea, but it's working!" I exclaimed, continuing to run at a very fast speed. After a good few minutes of running, I found a tower and got us both inside. I let Aelita down gently before holstering my sword. I can't believe I managed to hold that thing and Aelita the whole time I was running.

"You run fast," Aelita said.

"Yeah. That was useful. Now... can you contact Jeremy? I think I've kept you waiting long enough," I said.

"And... what was that about 'fighting being fun?'" Aelita teased me.

"Bite me," I said with a playful smile. The last thing I expected was for her to bite me on the nose.

"What was that?" I asked, reeling back while holding my nose.

"You said bite me," Aelita said innocently.

"I didn't mean literally," I said, tweaking my nose.

"I know what you meant," she said with a smile as warm as the sun. But I knew better. I had to smirk at her.

"Cheeky. I like it," I said, stretching out my arms. Then I saw her access one of those digital panels and place her palm on it. It took a few seconds, but we finally got a result.

"Aelita? What's the matter? Has XANA attacked again?" Jeremy asked.

"Yes, but he didn't activate a tower. He tried to set up a trap, but we managed to get away. Do you think you could get everyone down here?" she asked.

"'We?'" Jeremy asked before Aelita gestured for me to come toward her. I stood up and she moved aside for me to move into view. I could see Jeremy on the small screen, and I waved at him in a friendly way.

"Hello," I said kindly.

"Hello. I see the materialization restored you," Jeremy told me.

"It did, and thank you for that. You didn't really owe me anything," I told him, my tone truly grateful.

"I owe you more than you think. You saved Aelita and saved Yumi in a way," Jeremy said.

"You just would've ended up restoring Yumi instead of me. I didn't really help much," I said.

"Don't beat yourself up. You tried your hardest when you could've just stayed out of it. It doesn't matter," Jeremy assured me. "Do you need something?"

"Yes. Do you think you could get everyone here? I think I have some info that you might be interested to hear," I said evenly.

"Alright. I'll see what we can do. But we'll have to do it fast. It's getting late. Keep this channel open," Jeremy said.

"I'll be waiting," I said, before Jeremy disappeared. I could assume he was contacting us on his laptop. His computer could call people, so I don't see why he wouldn't contact them that way.

"We'll all be ready to hear your story," Aelita said.

"I'll tell you this much. I don't know how I got here," I said, pacing around the tower a bit.

"Well, if it makes you feel any better, I'm glad you are," Aelita said.

"I haven't been much of a help yet," I reminded her.

"You saved my life," Aelita reminded me.

"Yumi would've done that even if I wasn't there. And you just would've used the revival program on her," I said.

"Tell me something. What was your intention when you came after us?" Aelita asked.

"To stop Yumi from falling into the digital void so Jeremy wouldn't have to use his materialization program on her, but use it on you. That failed miserably," I said, frowning deeply.

"It was the thought that counted. Listen, I know Jeremy. And he's smart enough to figure out how to do it again. That way we can both get out here," Aelita said. I sighed.

"It's not going to be that easy," I told her.

"What do you mean?" Aelita asked me, frowning. I sighed. I couldn't hold back this piece of information any longer.

"XANA has you bound here. With a piece of your memory," I told her.

"How is a piece of my memory..."

"I'm not too sure how it works, but I think that as long as XANA can keep that part of your memory here in his clutches, he can keep you tied to Lyoko on a physical level. If Jeremy or anyone else tries to shut off the Supercomputer, not only will XANA be gone, you will be too. And XANA knows that Jeremy wouldn't dare shut down Lyoko while your life is on the line," I explained.

"So XANA has me bound here? That way Jeremy can't shut down the Supercomputer?" Aelita summed up.

"That's right. And that means problems in the future," I told her.

"Very. That's... kind of hard to take in," Aelita told me."

"Take you time. But just remember that when the time comes," I told her, sitting down on the floor with my arms on my knees.

I rubbed my eyes. Not out of exhaustion or irritation, but sometimes I do it just out of plain stress. Sometimes, I wonder what the fuck I truly got myself into. It won't be the perfect walk in the park I always dreamed of. I won't be beasting on these monsters, we won't take XANA down at the start of the second season, and I likely won't be... well, I would keep that part to myself. If you could blush in Lyoko, I'm pretty sure I would be doing it.

After a few minutes of silence, I heard Jeremy's voice again.

"Are you there?" I heard him ask. I stood up and went back to the computer screen.

"Yeah, we're still here," I told him.

"Man, who are you?" I saw Odd peek in on the right side of the screen. Ulrich was peeking over Odd, and Yumi was on the left while Jeremy was smack dab in the center. I took a deep breath before I spoke up.

"My name is Robert Morgan. You may not know me, but I know you. All of you. Odd, Ulrich, Yumi, Jeremy, and Aelita next to me. I know who you all are, and I know what you all do. XANA, the Supercomputer, I know it all," I said to them. The emotion I immediately got was shock.

"How do you know all of us?" Jeremy asked.

"Well, that's where this gets kinda sketchy. Do you believe in alternate dimensions?" I asked them.

"You're from a different dimension?" Odd asked.

"Yes. I could say that I am. It's either that, or this is the most vivid dream I've ever been in. As for how I got here, I have no idea. But I will tell you this much. I know some of XANA's plans. In some scenarios, I can tell you what he has planned for you. And I can tell you some of the problems you're gonna face, and trust me, are there a _lot_ of them," I said, spreading my hands out to emphasize my point.

"Like?" Jeremy asked.

"Well, for starters, XANA's not going to end just because you rematerialize Aelita. He's smarter than that," I told him, making Jeremy frown.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"XANA has taken a piece of Aelita's memory that binds her to Lyoko still. You shut off the supercomputer, it's bye bye XANA and Aelita. XANA knows you won't shut off the supercomputer when her life is on the line, so that's exactly why he did it," I explained to him. The eyes of every Lyoko character I could see widened.

"Are you serious?!" Ulrich exclaimed.

"I'm smack dab in the center of all this chaos. Of course I am. I'm sorry to tell you, but these are facts that you need to know. As well as Sector Five," I told him.

"What is Sector Five?" Yumi asked.

"Well, beyond the ic- not ice, but polar, forest, desert, and mountain region lies another one. A fifth one. Sector Five, otherwise known as Cartilage," I told him.

"Does that reference to the city that challenged the Roman Empire?" Jeremy asked.

"Yes, I believe so. And I believe that was what Franz Hopper intended," I said.

"Hold on, hold on. Franz Hopper? You're moving so fast, I can hardly keep up," Odd said. It was tempting to make a joke from that, but now was a serious time.

"I'm sure Jeremy's keeping up just fine. You don't have to worry about that," I said.

"So who is Franz Hopper?" Ulrich asked.

"A professor at Kadic Academy, the creator of the Supercomputer, and..." I turned to face Aelita for this part. "...Aelita's father."

Everyone gasped at my words and Aelita looked especially shocked. But I turned back to the screen and kept going.

"Decades ago, Franz and his wife had Aelita. I forgot what happened to her mother, but Franz had invented the Supercomputer. Uh..." I rubbed my temples to try and jog my memory. "Forgive me. Been a while since I've dusted off this information to use."

"Take you time," Jeremy said even though I could feel the anticipation from here.

"I remember he made XANA to counter some military organization I think. After that..." But Odd had cut me off.

"Wait a minute. He _made_ XANA?" he asked. Ulrich elbowed Odd to try and shut him up.

"Yes, he made XANA. If you would let me continue, you would know more," I said, sounding somewhat irritated. I always hated being cut off.

"Odd, zip it. Continue," Yumi said. I nodded.

"Well, it ended badly is all I can say. Turns out XANA developed his own AI to turn against its creator. Franz virtualized him and Aelita onto Lyoko. But by then, Franz had just figured out XANA became self learning and sent monsters after Aelita. Cause Aelita had a physical form. Franz did not," I explained, licking my lips. "I don't know what happened to the Supercomputer that caused it to shut down, but you better be glad for that. Imagine what would have happened if it wasn't shut off and XANA was free to roam with no opposition."

The Lyoko gang looked at each other with a knowing look. They knew that the world would've probably been conquered my XANA if that was the case.

"It's a lot to take in, I know," I said, turning to Aelita. "Especially for you."

"Going back to what you said about Sector Five, what purpose does it serve?" Jeremy asked.

"I am not exactly sure. No, wait..." I said, tapping my head furiously to try and remember. "I think you can retrieve information from there that you couldn't get here on the traditional sectors. Sort of like a big library. A dangerous library filled with monsters and traps, but a library nonetheless."

"How do we get to it?" Jeremy asked.

"I remember there was some type of code you had to enter in on your screen. The code is SCIPIO," I said. (If you can believe it, yes I remember all of this about the show naturally. I was obsessed with it when I was younger)

"Referring to the Roman general who helped bring down the city-state of Carthage in the Punic Wars. Franz Hopper really likes his history. What did he teach?" Jeremy asked, sounding interested.

"Now, that I don't. But above all, it's a rather minor detail. But see if you can find that password log. That way you can scope out Sector Five and get a feel for it. Once you do that, you're gonna have to figure out a way to transfer them directly in," I told him.

"Why is that necessary?" Yumi asked.

"Cause when you type in the SCIPIO code, you're taken away by a type of ball that grabs you all and takes you to Sector Five. It's gonna be kind of hard to do that when you don't have any Sectors to teleport into," I told them, making their eyes widen again.

"What do you mean no Sectors?!" Odd exclaimed.

"Exactly that," I said before turning to Aelita. "Remember when I told you to run from the Scyphozoa? Well, there was definitely a reason for that."

"What is the Scyphozoa?" Jeremy asked.

"A jellyfish like creature that he told me to stay away from," Aelita said.

"And for good reason. Let me tell you what he has planned. One, Aelita has something planted in her memories that XANA needs. The method to unbind himself from the Supercomputer," I said.

"Unbind himself? Where else could he go without the Supercomputer?" Jeremy asked.

"The only other place that's large enough for his AI to have a place. The internet," I said.

"Of course. What other place could hold a crazy AI?" Odd said rhetorically.

"Well, what else does he have?" Ulrich asked.

"This is where things get bad. His second and final step is to use Aelita's power on Lyoko to manipulate her into entering Code X.A.N.A. in a tower in every region. Once that happens, he can make Aelita destroy the ENTIRE SECTOR," I emphasized the words. "I don't think you need to smart to know what that means."

"No Sectors to travel to and no XANA tied to the Supercomputer means he wins," Odd summed up. I nodded.

"Exactly. So protect Aelita from that thing at all costs. Not only that, put protect yourselves. Don't let him divide and conquer. Stick together through it all. Don't let anything separate you all. Stand together and protect each other," I said, making them nod in a resolute way. Strangely enough, I sounded like a motivation speaker after saying that.

"I'm curious about one thing. This one's more about you, really," Yumi said.

"Shoot," I said.

"How do you know all this? I know you said you were from an alternate dimension, but that still doesn't explain how you know the stuff we don't know," Yumi said.

"Fair enough. But I'm not sure if you would believe me if I told you," I told her.

"Right now, you know all of us, know all of XANA's plans, and Lyoko's secrets. I think now's not the time for doubt," Yumi said reasonably.

"Good point. Well, like I said, I'm from an alternate dimension, and in that dimension, you are all, in fact, fictional characters," I told them. They looked at me strangely.

"Like a TV show?" Jeremy asked.

"Exactly like that. Went on for about four or five seasons. I suppose some things I was dissatisfied with, but it all came out alright in the end," I said.

"Well... that's certainly strange. But it really shows how other dimensions are really strange compared to ours," Jeremy said.

"Very. But we all have a common goal. Defeat XANA. And I'm here to help you do that," I said.

"Thank you. This means a lot," Aelita said, next to me. I nodded.

"Alright, that's enough for tonight. I gotta head home before my parents flip out," Yumi said. "Thanks for the info!" Then she went off.

"Yeah, and we got to sneak back into the dorm," Ulrich said.

"Go ahead and head back. You need your rest, I understand. We can talk more tomorrow," I told them.

"Thank you. We will see you later," Jeremy said.

"Have fun with Aelita!" Odd yelled.

"Odd!" Jeremy exclaimed irritably. I decided to tease Jeremy a little.

"Oh, don't worry. I will," I said with a suggestive smirk. But all jokes aside, I meant that. Jeremy simply shook his head before shutting off the call. I turned to Aelita.

"It's weird. I don't feel tired. Normally after doing all of that and being awake so long, I would be exhausted. But I'm not," I said to her.

"Yeah, that's how it works on Lyoko. You can stay up for however long you want. I know in the real world you can't really do that, but I don't know how that works," Aelita said.

"That is known as being sleepy. Unlikely on Lyoko, our bodies have a limit on how much effort we can put forward before we have to have to sleep. I've always hated that sleep can take so much time away from your life. You need at least eight hours of sleep to be fully rested, and there's twenty four hours in the day. That's a third of your time gone," I explained.

"I can understand that. But I've never had a problem with that. Then again, I don't remember being in the real world," Aelita said, sitting down in front of me.

"Don't worry. You will," I said, sitting down as well.

"What about your family?" Aelita asked. "Are they going to know you're gone?"

"More than likely. I didn't get out much, and if I did go somewhere, I told them," I said.

"Do you miss them?" she asked.

"I don't want them to worry about me, but I don't really miss them. As cold as that sounds, it's true," I said.

"Why's that?" Aelita asked me.

"Well, let's see. For one, we've never really spent any time together to be considered a family, I can count on one hand the times anyone has ever told me they love me, and my family was, has been been divided for a long time," I explained.

"Divided?" she questioned.

"My family isn't like all of their families. Or how yours used to be. There's no happy wife and husband in my family. There's no loving parents to tuck me in night and say they love me," I said evenly. This had already sunk in over the years, so it didn't affect me so much.

"I'm almost afraid to ask..." Aelita started.

"Then don't. I'll just say it. My parents stopped being together a while ago. I never grew up around my dad much, so in a way, I do have a figure to follow. I just have to do the opposite of what he did," I said.

"That sounds upsetting. I thought parents were supposed to stay together forever," Aelita said.

"They are. But I live in a world full of sin. Worse than this universe. But I'm used to it. So if you're wondering why I don't really miss them, that answers your question. People want to act like it's something to be ashamed of. Like it's really painful to remember. I can't really bother to care anymore, so I can't say I understand it," I explained.

"Well, regardless, you have my condolences," Aelita said.

"Thanks. But enough of that crap. Any other questions you got for me?" I asked.

"How old are you?" Aelita asked.

"Fourteen," I said. (I downed my age a little bit in this story because of plot reasons that involve Kadic)

"I think that's how old Yumi said she was," Aelita said.

"Yeah, it's not often you hear them talk about it. But in reality, you're older than all of us," I said.

"Really?" Aelita asked.

"Really. But since the Supercomputer was off and there's no aging in Lyoko, it doesn't really count. When you hit the real world, you'll be twelve in every aspect, so it doesn't really matter," I told her.

"That's interesting to know. Do you want to keep talking?" Aelita asked.

"Definitely," I said.

* * *

A/N: This went on a lot longer than I anticipated, but I'm glad for that. As you can see, we're setting a lot of plot details up, and I'm ready to start getting more into the story. Until next time.


	4. Chapter 4 - Discoveries

A/N: This author's note is only to inform you that I will not be doing all episodes of Code Lyoko. That would get repetitive and tedious. Plus I don't want all my stories to run over too long. Just a heads up.

Episode Reference: The Girl of The Dreams

* * *

"You do realize he likes you right?" I told Aelita.

"Who?" she asked.

"Jeremy. I mean, I know you like him, but I'm not sure if you know it's mutual," I told her.

"How do you know this?" Aelita asked.

"It's me, remember?" I said with a smirk. She simply shook her head as she mulled over my words.

"What about you?" Aelita asked.

"What about me?" I questioned.

"Do you like me?" Aelita asked. I smirked.

"Of course I do. Was there ever any doubt?" I said, raising an eyebrow. In all cases, that was all about how you perceived the meaning. But I haven't said anything TOO brash, so I'd say I was coming off as platonic.

"No, I would suppose not. You're just really brash, aren't you?" Aelita asked.

"Yup. I used to be shy, if you can believe it. Now I can act like a plum fool in public and not care. It's so liberating," I said, spreading my arms . "But that's besides the point. What do you plan on doing when you get to the human world?"

"I don't know. I feel like I should get more of a feel for the place before I do anything else. Who knows, I may not like the human world as much as I think," Aelita said, looking deep in thought.

"It definitely has its ups and downs. The downs are definitely there. But I love the ups that it has. Makes me kind of miss the real world," I said.

"What do you mean by that?" Aelita asked.

"I mean, in Lyoko I can only see and hear. I can only feel when I get shot. In the real world, I could touch and really feel. I could smell, and love how good some stuff smells. And the good foods to taste. Here, I don't even have to eat. While that is useful, it's just not amazing compared to some of the things I got to experience in the human world, you know?" I explained.

"I can kind of see your point. It's like trading certain privileges for different ones," Aelita said.

"Exactly like that. But in the human world, I can't fight for shit, so this is kind of a plus," I said with a chuckle.

"You can't fight? You seemed to pick up your skill on Lyoko pretty quickly," Aelita told me.

"That's because Lyoko does whatever it does to make me more skilled. It's not me. It's just artificial programming. Same thing goes for Ulrich, Odd, and Yumi. They all picked up on their abilities almost immediately. I'm no different," I said.

"Yet I'm the only one who can't fight," Aelita said.

"Don't worry. That'll eventually change," I told her.

"It will?" she asked, looking somewhat hopeful.

"Yeah. You eventually gain the ability to throw pink balls of energy. They're slow, but strong," I told her.

"And when does this happen?" Aelita asked.

"A while. Quite a while. But-" Then the back of my head started tingling and I instantly drew my sword while looking around.

"Something's here," I said.

"What do you think it is?" Aelita asked.

"Whatever it is, it's not friendly," I said. Then the same orange prison ball from a few days ago showed up.

"Another Guardian!" Aelita exclaimed.

"Another one? I'm not getting in that thing!" I said, placing Aelita on my back and immediately running in the opposite direction. I went into a Force Sprint, but this thing was somehow able to keep up with me.

 _"Wow. It's pretty fast for a big ball of sherbet ice cream,"_ I thought to myself as I was running. But I could see that a mega tank was blocking the way we were going.

"Jesus, are you fucking kidding me?!" I exclaimed.

"Try and go around it!" Aelita exclaimed.

"I have a better idea," I said as I kept my eye on the mega tank. It charged up for a blast, but I braced my feet before leaping in the air and jumping over the tank's blast and it hitting the Guardian dead on.

My jump cleared the mega tank and I looked around to see that the tank wasn't moving and the Guardian wasn't pursuing us. I fist pumped.

"Yes! It worked! I'm actually kind of surprised," I said, going into a type of victory dance.

"That was crazy. So crazy it worked," Aelita said with a smile. I barely had time to smile back before the tank exploded, knocking us both back from the force. Then I heard Aelita cry out. I quickly turned over to see the Guardian had nabbed Aelita and whisked away before I got all the way to my feet.

"Aelita!" I exclaimed. "Shit. Gotta figure out a way to contact Jeremy." I prayed that being able to access the tower was not just exclusive to Aelita even though it was a false hope.

I closed my eyes and tried to see if I could sense a nearby tower anywhere. My subconscious projected out like an extremely fast recon drone and zipped through the sector at the speed of sound. Then it pinpointed the nearest one. In the direction the Guardian went. I immediately ran in that direction as fast as I could to try and get to the tower ASAP.

I eventually made it to the tower and I walked inside and walked directly in the middle of the tower before slowly moving my right hand on the spot where Aelita normally activates the digital screen. I was surprised to see that it actually appeared and my hand print was accepted. My eyes widened as I saw my name pop up on the screen and I had full access.

 _"How? Just how is this even possible? I'm not part of Lyoko like Aelita,"_ I thought to myself. But I wasn't going to question it. First order of business: An alert. Took me a while, but I figured how to find the specific setting for it.

Once I pressed it, nothing happened. It was to be expected, but definitely not welcome. But after a few seconds, I got some results.

 _"Aelita?"_ he asked instantly asked.

"Not Aelita. She's been kidnapped by a Guardian. I don't know why XANA would be dumb enough to leave me behind, but I'm not going to question it," I said. "Look, everyone needs to get here fast."

 _"I'll get the others here ASAP. Try and see if you can find the Guardian. But... what about the girl here?"_ Jeremy asked.

"What girl?" I questioned.

 _"There's a girl here who looks like Aelita. It's extremely weird,"_ Jeremy said. Then it hit me.

"Oh, her. No, she's a complete stranger. Don't bring her to the factory. You'll just end up being dragged away," I told him.

 _"Ah. Well, I'll remember that,"_ Jeremy said as I ran out of the tower. I pressed my fingers to the side of my head and tried to look for the Guardian. The subconscious trick that I used earlier wasn't a fluke and I was able to efficiently search the sector. Only this time, my subconscious couldn't find her anywhere in this sector. XANA must have moved her.

Without even thinking about it, I moved toward the edge of the tower and I jumped instead of falling over. I was unsure at first, but I did end up landing on the next platform that lead to the next sector.

I walked out of the tower and saw that I was in the polar region. I tried to sense for her, but just like last time, I got no results. Hopefully the Guardian took a long time to travel in between sectors.

I went back in and ended up in the desert sector. She wasn't there. I finally ended up finding her in the forest sector.

"Of course it's the last one I check. XANA, you are an asshole," I said, sprinting towards the location I sensed. But the Guardian was just sitting there. Doing nothing. I just hoped the Scyphozoa would take it's sweet ass time getting there if that was in fact XANA's plan.

 _"We've got a problem. XANA animated Yumi's samurai armor, and now Ulrich and Yumi are being chased by it,"_ Jeremy told me.

"Yeah, that's definitely bad. Look, I know where Aelita is. If Odd can get here and provide some assistance, that would be great," I said.

 _"He'll be virtualized soon. Just get to her,"_ Jeremy said.

"I've already found her. I'm gonna get her back. I assure you of that," I told him.

I then began running off towards her location, and conveniently, they had kept her right next to the tower XANA activated. Though thus far, nothing he's done so far has been on accident.

Then the back of my head tingled in danger as I turned to see that two blocks were coming up from behind me.

"Jeremy. Where is Odd?" I asked him.

 _"I materialized him a few more clicks away. He'll be there to help you out soon,"_ Jeremy said as blocks guarding the tower were also converging on my location.

"Shit," I said as I drew both of my swords. But I could also spot the Scyphozoa behind the blocks near the tower. As expected, the Scyphozoa is exactly what he had planned for her. And Aelita was weak from being under the Guardian. No way she could've found the strength to run after that. I'm surprised I had the energy to fight after I got out of it.

The blocks on my left and right fired at me and I quickly adapted to the dual blades and started deflecting the shots like crazy. I then jumped like a missile towards one of the blocks near the tower and stabbed it in the eye before just leaving one of my blade to fly as the block exploded.

 _"Hey, what's going on?"_ Jeremy asked as I held my hand toward the sword. Amazingly, it was attracted back to me and I was able to get it back again. How about that?

"Explain," I said.

 _"That Scyphozoa thing you mentioned before is taking away Aelita's memory!"_ A as I quickly caught up to the tower. Somehow, the lasers behind me missed as I was running toward the creature.

I leaped, and let out a yell as I held both of my blades on either side and rolling myself into a ball while projecting myself towards the Scyphozoa's tentacles. The memory sapping was immediately severed along with its tentacles and Aelita fell to the ground in a heap.

Baring my teeth at the creature in a vicious way, I jumped at it to try and stab it in its eye, but I was interrupted by a laser hitting my ribs from the side. But I managed to recover in midair and land on my feet even though my side was burning.

"Laser Arrow!" I heard Odd exclaim. I looked over to see that he was coming up from behind and had jumped high in the air before firing off several shots that eliminated two of the blocks. The block immediately turned its attention towards Odd, but I had a better idea.

"Over here, you life sized Rubix Cube!" I yelled before tossing my sword directly at it and hit it directly in its target area. It immediately exploded and my sword went flying through the air, but I simply held my hand out towards it, and it immediately came back towards my hand.

"Sweet," Odd said.

"Nice timing Odd," I told him gratefully.

"What can I say? I'm good at that sort of thing," Odd said, before pointing to the unconscious Aelita. "Is she alright?"

"Yeah, she's fine. I think the Scyphozoa still managed to take that piece of her that XANA needed to bind her here," I said.

 _"Aelita needs to be taken to a deactivated tower to recharge,"_ Jeremy said.

"But the tower still needs to be shut down. And we don't even know if Ulrich and Yumi are lasting," Odd reminded the genius. I frowned. I had access to Lyoko's digital mainframe. From what I know, the others can't do that. But if I can than, just maybe...

"Get her to a tower. The nearest one is only two clicks that way," I said, pointing at a separate path.

"What are you going to do?" Odd asked.

"Shut down this tower," I said in a resolute tone.

 _"Are you crazy? No one but Aelita can do that,"_ Jeremy said.

"Look Jeremy, I'm not even sure this will really work, but just trust me on this, ok?" I asked him.

 _"This sounds crazy. Even by our standards,"_ Jeremy said.

"If you've got a faster way of doing this, then please say it now," I told him. I got no answer. Odd ran over to Aelita and put her on his back before whisking her away to the tower I told him to go towards.

 _"What makes you think you'll be able to shut it down?"_ Jeremy asked me.

"I don't have a thought. Rather, I'm going with my gut feeling," I said, walking towards the tower. I ran inside in the middle of the platform and it floated me up to the top.

With a landing lighter than air, I stepped on the platform and the Lyoko symbol on the floor lit up as soon as I did. I walked on the middle of the platform and the digital computer still showed up at my presence.

 _"Insert Code Lyoko... Insert Code Lyoko..."_ I repeated over and over again in my mind.

My movement was hesitant at first, but I put my hand on the blank digital screen and my handprint flashed several times before it showed my name again just like last time. The word 'Code' popped up on the screen for a few seconds before it was followed by 'Lyoko.'

"Did it work?" I asked Jeremy.

 _"I'm getting nothing yet. Wait, I can return to the past now!"_ Jeremy said.

"Not yet. Odd's still getting Aelita to the tower. That comes first," I reminded him.

 _"Odd, are you almost to the tower?"_ Jeremy asked him. I couldn't hear his response since I wasn't near him, but that was unnecessary.

 _"He says he's within sight of the tower. He also asked what should he do with Aelita once he gets there,"_ Jeremy said.

"Just lay her on the floor. I'll drop by after I get out of this tower," I said, standing over the edge of the tower and falling down. I exited the tower and started running toward the tower Aelita was at. Sometimes I wondered just how much I cared about these guys. I mean, they are fictional.

 _"As of now, they are not fictional. They are your friends,"_ I thought to myself. _"Well, at least I would hope they are."_

I had ran into the tower I sensed, and immediately saw Aelita lying on the floor, still unconscious.

I sat on the floor with my arms on my knees I watched over her. I mulled over on my connection to Lyoko. I mean, I've never seen anyone but Aelita access the tower. And there was a reason for that. No one ever had a connection with Lyoko before. It seems too convenient to me.

 _"I mean, I can shut down the towers now. There's no reason for Aelita to risk her life anymore. Then again, she might take it the wrong way. I don't want to come off as rude. I want to make this a lot safer for her,"_ I ranted in my mind.

"You look like you're worrying about something," Aelita said, making me jump extremely hard.

"Don't do that!" I exclaimed.

"I am so sorry. I did not mean to startle you," Aelita said, looking regretful. I gave her an apologetic look.

"It's fine... just..." I sighed. "Just got a lot on my mind. I did not mean to come off as hostile."

"You look pretty preoccupied. Something the matter? Wait!" Aelita said, suddenly rising to her feet. "XANA! The tower!"

"Don't bother," I said flatly. "It's shut down."

"It is? I mean, did you put me inside or..."

"No. I shut it down," I said.

"What? That's impossible," Aelita said.

"I have no reason to lie to you," I said gently. "Believe me, I have a hard time believing it myself."

"I kind of want to see proof. Try and access the platform in the center," she told me. I rose to my feet in an almost dead way and stood in the middle of the platform before sticking my hand out. Like the last time, the digital screen appeared from my movement and I placed my hand on it. My name flashed on it and the access screen had shown up.

I looked over to Aelita, who looked surprised. I walked over to her, but she simply moved away from me and started pacing back and forth. I was getting the impression that I had somehow did something wrong.

"Why are you upset?" I asked her.

"I'm not upset," Aelita said way too quickly. I gave her a knowing look before crossing my arms. She sighed.

"Sorry. I'm just..." Aelita hesitated.

"Come on. Out with it," I urged.

"I don't know. I feel like control over the towers makes me unique. To be able to do something no one else could do. I mean, I can't necessarily defend myself," Aelita said.

"You _are_ special," I told her.

"I know, I know. I have Creativity to do a bunch of other stuff, but..." I cut her off by grabbing her chin and making her look me directly in the eye.

"That is not what I meant," I told her with a steely look.

"Oh. Well, what did you mean?" Aelita asked.

"I meant that there will also be something special about you. You're a kind and pure soul, and I haven't met many that are like that. Even if no one thinks like I do, I definitely think you're special," I told her honestly.

"Is that really how you feel?" Aelita asked.

"If you can give me a valid reason why I would lie, then please give it to me," I told her.

"To make me feel better," Aelita said.

"I repeat, a _valid_ reason to lie. I find honesty to be more important than feelings. Cause trust me. In some situations, people will wish that someone was brutally honest with them rather than telling them what they want to hear," I explained to her.

"By the sound of things, you'd make a terrible boyfriend," Aelita said with a giggle. My look quickly turned sad before I turned away while attempting to put my hands in my pockets, but then I saw that I didn't have any.

"Um, did I say something wrong?" Aelita asked.

"No you didn't. I just got a headache," I said, running my right hand down my face.

"Now, I didn't take you for a fool. Please grant me the same luxury," Aelita said, crossing his arms. Should've known that wasn't going to work. I sighed before turning around to face her.

"Look, it's just... it's been a while since I've been in a relationship, ok? Can we just leave it at that?" I asked her.

"Yeah, ok. But that's really sad. I like you quite a bit," Aelita said. I gave her a small smile.

"Yeah, thanks. But not everyone thinks the same way as you. My dimension would be a lot less terrible if that was the case," I said, deciding to lie back on the platform and close my eyes. Then I smiled all of a sudden.

"What?" Aelita asked me.

"It's weird. Your eyes are imprinted on my eyelids," I said smiling.

"My eyes are..." Aelita said hesitantly. I had to laugh at that. I think she literally checked to see if her eyes were still there.

"No, no. You misunderstand me. Though you did give me a good laugh," I said, raising up to look at her.

"Well, what did you mean?" Aelita asked me.

"I really meant the color. They're a startling green," I told her.

"Really? I've never really seen them. They're green?" Aelita asked.

"Yup. They're brighter than usual while in the tower," I told her. "I like them."

"Thanks. It's a little embarrassing to take that literally," Aelita said with a sheepish smile.

"It's fine. Like I said, I like you just the way you are," I said with a smile. I was really beginning to enjoy myself.

 _"Aelita!"_ I heard Jeremy exclaim. I immediately snapped open my eyes as the hope for relaxing had just faded.

"I'm here Jeremy," Aelita said.

"She's fine. The tower helped her regain consciousness," I told him. I just now remembered that staying in the tower regenerates them. Convenient.

 _"So you managed to shut down the tower? How?"_ Jeremy asked me.

"I honestly have no idea. I mean, I was desperate to try and find a way to contact you when I saw Aelita was imprisoned. So I just tried it and it... worked," I finished lamely.

 _"Interesting. Is it possible you're connected to Lyoko somehow?"_ Jeremy asked.

"It's a long stretch, but then again, I don't see any other reason why he would be able to access the tower," Aelita said.

"Let's not question it though. I mean, this pretty much guarantees that you'll be safe," I said. Aelita frowned.

"What do you mean?" she asked. I bit my bottom lip nervously. I was hesitant about saying this next part.

"There's really no point for you to leave the tower. I mean, I can sense them and shut them down," I told her.

"Just what are you saying? That I'm useless now?" Aelita asked. But her voice wasn't angry. It sounded more hurt and soft than anything, which really made me cringe.

"That is not what I am saying-"

"Please explain then," Aelita said.

"I don't want you to get hurt," I said honestly. "And with this, there is no reason to."

"Don't the each of you risk your lives for me every day?" Aelita asked.

"No. They get sent back to the real world if they get devirtualized," I reminded her.

"You don't. You're just like me. If you die, you die for good. And the least I can do is do the same," Aelita said.

"Aelita, that's crazy!" I exclaimed at her. "This way you don't have to get hurt."

"And there's no way I'm going to let you all risk your lives while I do nothing. I am still going to come along," Aelita said. I frowned. I knew this was going to go bad in some type of way. But she was just stubborn. I couldn't help but get upset.

"Fine. It is your decision after all," I said, closing my eyes and rubbing my forehead.

 _"Aelita, what is the logic in your decision? You don't have to put yourself in danger anymore,"_ Jeremy said. I definitely agreed with him on this.

I felt Aelita tap my shoulder and she looked at me with a firm expression.

"Some things you just have to do," Aelita said, her message going to the both of us. I nodded. This was her way of contributing, and I couldn't necessarily force her to stay at the tower when something went down. While it made no sense from a logical standpoint, I suppose it made a little sense from an emotional one.

"That's your decision. But I will be one of your knights, or rather a Jedi is shining armor," I said, drawing a sword and putting it in front of my face. Aelita giggled at my antics and things felt considerably lighter again.

 _"I may not be able to protect you in Lyoko, but-"_ I immediately cut Jeremy off.

"Yeah, stop with that shit. You help us beyond Lyoko, so don't put yourself down," I told him.

"He's right. You need to stop putting yourself down. You are very helpful in way other than protection," Aelita said.

 _"I suppose you're right,"_ Jeremy said.

"We don't suppose. We know," I said, smirking self-confidently. Aelita and Jeremy smiled at my antics.

 _"You have a very narcissist air,"_ Jeremy said.

"There's a difference between being narcissistic and correct. Cause I am correct, correct?" I said with an eyebrow raised.

 _"Hmm. I see your point. Anyway, I have class soon. I'll talk to you both later,"_ Jeremy said, logging off. I turned to Aelita.

"Look, you're still gonna have me stressing over your safety, but hey. It wasn't too much different from when I wasn't here," I said.

"Well, you have fun with it sometimes. Why can't I?" Aelita said with a smirk. I smiled.

"Spoken like a person I've infected with my stupid ass logic. Uh, don't quote me on that," I said, realizing that I kind of didn't want cursing to spread in this world. Just cause it has where I'm at, doesn't mean it has to here. But granted, nothing would probably would get me to stop cursing.

"It's fine. I just hope you don't get yourself killed," I said.

"I'll be fine. After all, you're my 'Jedi' remember? What does that even reference to?" Aelita asked. I got a wide grin on my face at the mere thought of being able to explain Star Wars to Aelita. Hell, I got giddy and the thought of explaining it to anyone. This I would enjoy.

* * *

A/N: I'm starting to get better at getting these chapters to run over longer. But I'm a few chapters ahead, so I won't the waits won't run run over too long. Unless I want them to. Adios!


	5. Chapter 5 - Advice

A/N: Ok, I've been having a lot of fun with this story. More so than I thought. I've written a lot of chapters ahead of time, so if you have to wait, then that's because I want to you to wait. I am totally a nice person. lol. Anyway, enjoy the chapter.

Episode References: Routine

* * *

"Come on! Stop it!" Aelita exclaimed.

"You can't expect me to believe you've never been tickled before?" I questioned as I chased after her.

"No, I haven't!" Aelita said as soon as I tackled her and was leaning over her body. I had a cocky smirk on my face the entire time too.

"Well, it's time to change that! Come here Strawberry Top!" I exclaimed while tickling her in her armpits. She started laughing hysterically and my smirk turned into a genuine smile. It was fun when XANA wasn't attacking or Aelita and Jeremy weren't working on the program like slaves. When the two of us could just have fun with each other. Plus she can actually feel the effects of my tickles here, which was convenient. Maybe sentient beings could influence the touch sense somewhat? Uh, I don't know. I just went with it.

"S-stop! Stop!" Aelita breathed out as she was still laughing.

"Say I win! Say I'm the best!" I said as I still had her pinned and was still tickling her.

"You win! You're the best!" Aelita exclaimed. I got off her with a playful pout.

"Oh, you're no fun!" I said as I turned away from her. That was a big mistake as she tackled me to the ground and started tickling me in my armpits as well. I began to laugh like crazy as for some reason, my touch sense felt ten times as high on Lyoko. Normally I didn't feel this ticklish.

"Say I win!" Aelita exclaim.

"I will never concede to a fair maiden," I said, throwing out my cheesy ass knight voice as I was still laughing.

"Then you will perish knight!" Aelita exclaimed before doubling the speed of her tickling. I started squirming to get away from her tickling, but she was able to keep tabs on me. I managed to gather my senses for a moment and grabbed her arms and held them at her sides before turning us over and I was the one back on the top again.

"So... you still want to play?" I said, lowering my face until we were inches apart. She smirked.

"Better believe it," Aelita said. I let out a content sigh as I was leaning over her. Man, this felt peaceful. In some way that I couldn't comprehend. Then her hand traced my hair. Or the considerable lack of hair.

"What does your hair normally feel like?" Aelita asked.

"Well, normally it's never cut. Most of the time it's a tangled mess. But not now. Cause Lyoko seems to care about me being well groomed," I said. She removed her hand from my head and looked directly at me.

"Can't wait until I get to the human world. There's just a lot of things I want to experience," Aelita said.

"Don't worry. You'll likely feel the power of my tickles ten times worse than you do now," I said while smirking.

"Bring. It. On," Aelita challenged. I smiled warmly.

"Just what have I walked onto?" I heard a voice ask. I immediately got up and turned around to see Ulrich was standing there. But I didn't hear Jeremy contact us. "Thanks for suggesting all of us learn how to use the Supercomputer by the way."

"Oh. Hey Ulrich. You're welcome, but is anything going on?" I asked him, straightening the front of my robes.

"No. Nothing XANA related at least. I came to see you before I had to go to school. You said if I was curious about anything to come see you. Well, here I am," Ulrich said.

"Yeah. Of course man. What do you need?" I asked.

"Aelita, could you excuse us for a moment? We kind of need to have a guy talk," Ulrich said.

"What's that?" Aelita asked.

"It's basically a talk only for guys. Cause we talk about stuff that girls really wouldn't understand like a guy would. Plus it's a bit personal," Ulrich explained. Aelita nodded.

"Go ahead. Take your time," she said, walking away from us. I turned to Ulrich.

"What's the issue man?" I asked him.

"Yumi and me," Ulrich said.

"What about you two?" I asked with an eyebrow raised.

"I'm starting to feel that she doesn't really like me," Ulrich said.

"That's ridiculous," I told him.

"Well, that's what I feel like. Recently, I feel like we've just been growing apart," Ulrich said, sitting on the ground. "Any futuristic advice?" I sat on the ground in front of him and looked him straight in the eye.

"Well, when it comes to relationships, the future can't really help you all that much if you're looking to change something. I mean, anything can happen. Whether good or bad. While I can't give you anything concrete, I can give you my advice. This is about Emily, isn't it?" I asked, recalling the episode we were currently on.

"Yeah. I mean, she looks like she has a thing for me. And honestly... I'm thinking of responding back," Ulrich said.

"Do it," I said evenly. Ulrich immediately looked surprised.

"What? Are you sure?" he asked.

"The real question is, are you sure?" I asked him.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ulrich asked.

"I mean, are you absolutely sure you think you've tried your best with Yumi? Have you given it your all? Have you given her any concrete proof to let her know you like her. A date, a confession, hell, even a cheesy poem or love note?" I asked. Ulrich scratched the back of his head.

"No, I suppose not," he said. I scratched the area above my lip before speaking again.

"Then change that. You give her something she can't ignore and truly proves you like her. That there's no possible doubt in her mind. Just make sure she gives you a yes or no answer. Don't let her run, don't let her change the subject, dodge the question, or anything. Cause you'll know she'll try and do it," I explained to him.

"So what you're saying is that I should go for it?" Ulrich asked.

"Exactly. If she says yes, then you two will live happily ever after in a magical forest or some shit like that," I said, making Ulrich briefly smile before it was wiped off his face.

"And if she says no?" he asked, looking slightly fearful.

"Then you'll have your answer. You can give some of the other girls at this place a shot. Emily, or even Sissi," I told him.

"Sissi? You must be out of your mind," Ulrich said, looking at me like I was crazy. Didn't blame him really.

"I know it sounds crazy. But it's weird. In some moments when she's not acting like a fanatic, she asks, dare I say, mature. Don't let the craziness fool you man. Just think about it," I told him.

"Yeah, I got you. Thanks for the advice. And Robert?" Ulrich said as he was standing up.

"Hmm? One last thing?" I asked.

"Yeah," Ulrich said.

"Well, come on. What is it?" I asked him.

"I won't tell Jeremy about what I just saw," Ulrich said smirking.

"But I've done nothing wrong," I said.

"Of course you haven't. Either way, I won't tell him," Ulrich said, still smirking.

"Ah. Thanks... I guess..." I trailed. To be honest, I really didn't care. It really was innocent play.

"Don't mention it. Mind stabbing me so I can get back to the real world?" Ulrich asked. I drew one of my swords and impaled him in the gut and he was immediately devirtualized. Aelita then walked back over to where I was at.

"Did you two have a good talk?" Aelita asked.

"Yeah. He was just a little unsure about Yumi. I helped him out the best I could," I said.

"Of course you did. Those two are always unsure about what they want from each other, aren't they?" Aelita asked.

"Just make sure you don't make the same mistake," I told her.

"What does that supposed to mean?" Aelita asked. I then immediately tackled her.

"Like not taking the element of surprise in out tickle fight!" I exclaimed, starting to tickle her all over again. She started laughing hysterically again, and I smiled. I was glad that there wasn't going to be a XANA attack for a while.

* * *

"Ugh. An activated tower? Really?" I asked. _"Me and my big mind has to keep commenting about no XANA attacks._

"Yes. I know those pulsations anywhere," Aelita said. I groaned.

"Great. We'll have to get the others to the factory... Let's get to the tower ahead of time. You can contact Jeremy without a tower, so that's convenient," I said as I propped her on my back and started running us over to the tower.

"Jeremy, XANA's launched another attack!" Aelita exclaimed.

 _"Are you feeling pulsations?"_ Jeremy asked.

"Yes. In the desert region. They're really strong," Aelita said.

 _"I've never seen him so active as he is now. Sorry guys, you gotta go back. Right away too,"_ Jeremy told the others.

"Where's Ulrich?" I asked. I was genuinely curious cause at this point he was with Emily. Now I wasn't so sure.

 _"Up in his dorm. He looked really down about something,"_ Odd said. I frowned sadly. Looks like things didn't turn out the way he wanted them to. Man, Yumi was stubborn sometimes.

 _"I'll go get him,"_ I could hear Yumi say.

"Not the best idea. Odd, you go get him," I told him. I couldn't see it, but I knew Yumi was frowning at my words.

 _"Why does it have to be me?"_ Odd asked.

"Do you want me to reach through this computer and strangle you?" I questioned calmly.

 _"I'm going, I'm going,"_ Odd said. I could hear his footsteps fading. I couldn't really focus a visual on the others, only audio cause I had to see where I was going.

"Get to the tower. All of you. Faster we get this done, the better," I told them.

 _"What's up with Ulrich?"_ Jeremy asked.

"Don't worry about that right now. Just get to the tower," I told him. We severed the contact with Jeremy's computer and we took up position near the tower. Surprisingly, no monsters. Then my eyes widened.

"Don't send the others," I whispered to myself.

"What is it?" Aelita asked.

"That's what XANA was after. XANA fiddled with a virus on materialization. If Jeremy virtualized the others, XANA's monsters could kill them for good," I told them.

"Well, there aren't any right now. He was waiting for everyone else to arrive. I need to head for a deactivated tower first. Figure out what we need to do," Aelita said. I nodded before dashing towards the nearest deactivated tower. I set her down right in front of the door and I waited outside patiently for her to come out after performing her analysis.

"You were right," Aelita said as soon as she walked out of the tower. "XANA's monsters are now included in the virtualization program. If the others joined in Lyoko and got shot enough times, they'd be gone forever."

"He's not trying to take them out through the human world now. He's trying to do it through Lyoko," I told her.

"This is troubling. But we gotta find the other tower," Aelita said. "And if you don't mind, I want to stretch my legs."

"Aw, you're no fun. Plus you help with the cardio," I said with a mock pout.

"I think you'll manage," Aelita said with a smile before we took off running towards to the tower XANA activated. To be honest, at this point, I had gotten kind of used to her being on my back. Now I felt even more weightless.

We arrived at the tower and I saw that it was guarded by two mega tanks and a crab. Goddammit. Mega Tanks were something I did not look forward to dealing with.

"I knew I was going to eventually run into these oversized bowling balls," I said as I eyed the Mega Tanks. "I could really use some help here."

"Let's wait for Jeremy and the others. Maybe Jeremy can figure out a way to reverse XANA's devirtualization virus," Aelita said.

"God, I hope so. Cause I do not want them to be under the same risk as me," I said, still learning over the rock just slightly so those monsters couldn't sneak up on us.

 _"Aelita? Robert? Are you two alright?"_ Jeremy asked. Wow, that was fast.

"Yeah, we're fine. We're at XANA's tower, but it's guarded by two mega tanks and a crab. I trust myself to deal with most monsters, but not those things," I told him.

 _"The others will be inbound soon to help you out,"_ Jeremy said.

"Don't send them. Not yet. XANA has included his monsters in the virtualization programs. They have the potential to kill the others for good," I told him.

"That's not good. Just stay down until I can get rid of this stupid virus," Jeremy said.

"Can do. We'll keep our heads down," I said, still keeping my eyes on the monsters. Barely any of my head was showing as I peeked around the sides. I noticed the crab had looked started looking towards my direction and I instantly moved back. I waited a few seconds before looking back. I didn't aggro it, which was good.

"Have they moved?" Aelita asked me.

"Nope. They're still there. I'm keeping my eye on them," I said.

"How about we try that technique you had us practice? The Missile Toss?" Aelita asked.

"Not yet. Not only is it a little risky with these stupid Tanks here, but I figure we need to wait for Jeremy to get rid of XANA's virus. I don't know if it'll be reversed if we go back to the past now," I explained to her.

"We'll wait for Jeremy to say he's finished then," Aelita said. Then we heard a loud boom just beyond the rock we were hiding behind that caused us to raise our arms for cover.

"Of course his monsters just couldn't have been nice and patient. Fall back a little. See if you can provide with some cover with Creativity. Lord knows I'm gonna need it," I told her. She nodded and ran back toward the direction we came from. I took a deep breath before leaping over the barrier with a yell.

"Come and get it!" I yelled, sounding much more confident than I was.

The crab began firing at me, but I quickly drew one of my swords and deflected all of its lasers. But the Mega Tanks converged on both of my sides and I silently cursed to myself.

I leaped in the air and jumped on top of the crab before stabbing it in its target area. I jumped off and jumped towards a Mega Tank before kicking it as hard as I could. I got it to move a decent amount, but I could get it to move anywhere near the edge.

"Oh shit," I cursed as the Tank started turning around to face me. I rolled on the ground Metal Gear Solid style to move out of the way of its line of sight.

Then I felt my side hit solid rock. I looked around to see that there was a rock barrier around me. Soon after, I felt a blast hit part of the rock, but I was completely alright. I smiled as I knew Aelita had set up some cover for me to hide behind when she saw that Mega Tank about to kill my ass. It was good to have her cover your back.

I jumped out of the hole at the top of the walls and landed on the nearby Tank. It rolled to the side, hoping to throw me off and possibly crush me, but I stayed on it. Then it opened up and charged for an attack. That was what I was hoping for and I impaled it in its target zone immediately. Then I jumped off it and landed about twenty meters away as the Tank exploded.

 _"Two down, one to go,"_ I thought to myself. _"But why does it have to be a bloody Mega Tank?"_

The Mega Tank started charging up while I was facing it, and I dived to the side to avoid the blast. I pressed my slight advantage and started running up to it. It charged another attack, and I drew one of my swords at the same time. Once it fired, I tossed my sword at the side and it hit it dead on. But the blast also caught my left arm and I was sent flying near the edge. Almost close enough to fall.

"Damn, that I was close," I said as I rose to my feet while holding my left arm. I immediately winced a little as this was taking longer to numb down. "Holy hell, this hurts."

"Are you alright?" Aelita asked.

"Yeah. Thanks for having my back Lita," I said as the pain died down.

"Think of it as payback for the many times you've had mine," she said with a warm smile. I smiled before it quickly faded and I looked at the tower. "Jeremy hasn't said anything yet."

"He's probably still messing with the virus. I think he'll only take a few more moments," Aelita said.

She was right about that as I heard a shuffle that signaled that he was back.

"Alright. I replaced the circuits that XANA messed up. I'm free to send the others down with less risk," Jeremy said.

"No need. All the monsters are dead," I told him.

"I thought you were going to wait?" Jeremy asked.

"Yeah, well the monsters wanted to play now. Impatient bastards. I got hit, but I'm fine," I told him.

"Then one of you can head in the tower, and we can call this a day," Jeremy said. I turned to Aelita and went into a bow while gesturing toward the tower.

"Your throne awaits, milady," I said in my cheesy knight voice.

"Are you ever going to give up that voice?" Aelita asked me.

"Nope!" I said almost instantly with a wide smile on my face.

"Good, cause I like it," Aelita said, heading toward the tower. I smirked.

"Just how often do you do the 'knight-maiden' thing?" Jeremy asked.

"Pretty often. It's becoming a trend with us now," I told him.

"You do know your accent is pretty cheesy, right?" Jeremy asked.

"That's the very point of it!" I exclaimed. Jeremy chuckled shortly.

"Sounds like a very Odd like thing to do," Jeremy said.

"He could never hope to match this type of handsomeness," I said, adjusting the front of my robes like I was adjusting a tie in a type of cocky way. Jeremy snorted.

"He would care to differ with you on that," he said as I saw the tower deactivate. Not long after, I heard that Jeremy was no longer responding, so he returned to the past. We were done here.

* * *

"It didn't work," I heard someone say suddenly. Me and Aelita suddenly jumped at Ulrich's presence.

"Crap. You know I can't sense friendly presences!" I exclaimed at him. His expression did not move from his dejected look. "What didn't work?"

"I was forward with Yumi like you said. I couldn't get a concrete answer out of her. So I'm just... done," Ulrich said. He didn't even sound sad or upset. He just sounded tired. Which was worse really. I gave him a sympathetic look.

"I'm sorry. I knew she was stubborn, but I wasn't expecting this. What were the exact words you used?" I asked him. He looked a little uncomfortable, and I could see his eyes dart towards Aelita. He didn't feel comfortable talking about it around her.

"I'm going to give you two privacy," Aelita said, standing up. Ulrich smiled at her.

"Thanks for being understanding," he said. She nodded and walked out of the tower.

"You never get people that nice anymore. Anyway, what did you say?" I asked.

"I walked to her when she was around the others and asked could I see her for a minute. Away from anyone who would want to pry into the conversation we were having," Ulrich said. I nodded. This sounded like the best decision. Plus I knew the both of them would want to keep it between the two of them.

Ulrich then sat down in front of me and was looking directly in front of him, but the dull look indicated that he really wasn't looking like his eyes suggested.

"I was nervous. Very nervous. But I took your words to heart and they steeled my nerves a little. I looked her in the eye, and I asked her did she like me. Not like a friend, but a date. I made that quite clear when I asked," Ulrich said. "She responded, 'Why do you ask?' I swallowed several times before I even managed to get the words out. Even then, they came out like I was vomiting something up."

"Bet she didn't have a damn clue what you said," I said.

"How'd you guess?" Ulrich said rhetorically before continuing. "The second time I said it, my words were clear. I told her that I liked her beyond a friend. She didn't even say anything. Not a word. She just... looked at me."

"I've heard in Japanese cultures they usually wait for the man to make the first move," I said.

"Then what's the problem?!" Ulrich exclaimed, immediately rising to his feet. I raised my hands in surrender.

"Whoa. Calm down. Let me finish man," I said. Ulrich's shoulders slouched before he sat back down calmly.

"Sorry. I'm just..."

"No need to explain. Now, what I mean to say after that is that I just don't know what is wrong with Yumi, cause this is beyond unusual. Not only that, I don't understand her logic. You've done all the hard work for her, and she denies it? I probably wouldn't make the first move to start a relationship, but if someone came to me and did the hard work for me, it would be easy to pic," I explained with my index finger and thumb under my chin in thought.

"Maybe you were wrong about Yumi," Ulrich said. I frowned sadly.

"Maybe I was. Sometimes there's a difference between being possessive and liking," I said, remembering her canon behavior. Honestly, it pissed me off at times to see Ulrich get done like that.

"Yeah, that is if she showed an interest in me besides friendship," Ulrich said bitterly.

"Remember what I said what to do if things didn't work out?" I asked him.

"I'm not ready to look for someone else. Not now," Ulrich said.

"And that's fine. You find what you want to do. Spend time with your friends and get over it before you truly decide on getting in a relationship," I told him.

"You know, you'd be a perfect relationship therapist," Ulrich said.

"I wouldn't say that. I'm just a guy with an opinion," I said.

"Your opinions and advice are excellent. I definitely appreciate the help," Ulrich said.

"You're welcome. Anytime. But I hope Yumi comes around. I had high hopes for you two," I said.

"So did I. But right now, those hopes have been all but dashed. Look, I don't know how good you are at it, but a little fighting would clear my head a little," Ulrich said.

"Alright. It'll be good to get some hand to hand experience in. Hopefully I'll be able to retain that skill in the human world," I said with a smile. "Just so I can knock the hell out of Sissy when I need to." Ulrich smirked before throwing a punch. I dodged out of the way and threw a punch, which Ulrich deflected.

 _"Yumi, you never cease to make things more difficult than they have to,"_ I thought as I was sparring with Ulrich.

* * *

A/N: Oh, come on. You didn't think I would make it that easy, would you? We still need to have that Ulrich/Yumi drama. I know you've already suffered through it during canon, but I'm going to make you suffer some more. :) Hope you're having fun.


	6. Chapter 6 - We made it!

A/N: I've got a different dynamic going on. For all of the updates that I've done ahead of time, I'll upload them every week. I've got like about four or five chapters done, so that's five weeks covered. That gives me a fair amount of time. I may decided to upload faster. You never know. Anyway, enjoy the chapters.

Episode References: Code: Earth

* * *

"You said you had good news, and you've been torturing us for hours cause we've had nothing to do but wonder what it is. You're a sadist, you know that?" I said.

"I take offense to that," Jeremy said sternly.

"Don't. I'd do the same thing to you all," I said with a friendly smile. Aelita turned to Jeremy with a wide smile on her face.

"So? Tell us what the good news is!" she exclaimed.

"I don't know how to tell you both this, but... we're waiting for you here," Jeremy said. My eyes widened and Aelita smiled widely.

"You got the program to work?!" I exclaimed.

"Yes," Jeremy said while smiling.

"Really?" Aelita said in an excited tone.

"Really!" everyone exclaimed at the same time. Aelita and I turned to each other at the same time before hugging each other. I put my arm around her shoulder and she did the same as we began hopping up and down in joy. I didn't know I was going to be this excited, but I was ready to become human again.

"I knew it was only a matter of time. Good job Jeremy," I told him.

"Thanks. The materialization's all on here," Jeremy said, holding up a silver disk. My eyes widened. I remembered how this was going to go wrong in its own way.

"It was really complicated. De-fragmenting the inertial matrix wasn't enough, and so I had to start recompile all of the DNA-"

"Time out Einstein," Odd said, making Jeremy look slightly annoyed. Ulrich fake yawned and I smirked before speaking.

"Thanks Odd. But you're going to want to make sure to separate that disk from the others. Or at least label it right," I told him.

"Why's that?" Jeremy asked.

"Cause it'll all end up going really bad. It always does when something good's about to happen," I told him.

"He's right you know. Might wanna keep that in some place special. Just in case," Odd said.

"I'll take your word for it. But... where?" Jeremy asked.

"In between your mattress. It's a good place to hide stuff," I said before realizing something. "Please tell me you have an idea as to where I'm going to live before being admitted into the school."

"Calm down. We've already accounted for this. You're going to be staying with Yumi's folks," Jeremy said, making me looked shocked.

"She doesn't mind a guy living in the house with two girls around my age?" I asked. "That's a little fishy."

"All they know about you is that you're Aelita's brother. That you're there to look after her cause her parents are hesitant about sending her here by herself. Don't worry. I made sure to stress that you two are very close so you two don't have to argue like me and Hiroki do to keep up a deception," Yumi said, making me and Aelita grin.

"Thanks. Really, I mean it. It'll feel good to be able to be human again. Lyoko just feels sort of numb sometimes," I said.

"It's the least we can do. You're risking your life to help us out here. And you told us things we don't know ahead of time. This is one of our many thanks," Jeremy said. I smiled.

"What do we have to do first?" I asked.

"First I've got to set up the program in the Super Calculator. Then the both of you will have to get the passage tower in Lyoko's Forest Region. That's where the both of you will devirtualized. Then you'll appear here in the scanners for the first time," Jeremy explained.

"In that case, we're off to the Forest Region," Aelita said.

"Ok. And we'll go to class in the meantime. And afterwards, the factory," Jeremy said.

"I'll see you later my friends," Aelita said, mimicking the two fingered salute that I normally do. I mimicked her movements towards the others as well.

"We'll be six for dinner tonight," Jeremy said. Then we severed the call. Aelita turned to me with an ecstatic expression.

"Can you believe that we're going to the real world?" she said before realizing her words. "Scratch that. Yes you can, because you know what's coming up."

"I can't wait. First I want to know what this strawberry top feels like," I said, running my right hand through her hair. She smiled and placed her hand on my head as well.

"I want to know what your hair feels like as well," Aelita said.

"I guarantee you it won't be as soft as yours. But at least it won't be like feeling sandpaper," I assured her.

Then the both of us got on the ledge of the tower and fell down to get to the next platform. In no time at all, we were in the Forest Region.

"Just like old times, huh?" I said with a smile as I put her on my back again. Even though we had only been doing this for a few weeks.

"Hopefully better," Aelita said as I ran off towards the tower. We got close before I saw that it was unsurprisingly guarded by three blocks. To be honest, that wasn't much for Aelita's freedom. I thought I remembered a Mega Tank being in the mix. Wrong episode, maybe? I could get things wrong at times.

"These fools won't stand a chance," I said as I set her down in this broken tree. "Then again, I'm a little hesitant about leaving you alone here. I don't put it past XANA to sneak the Scyphozoa over here when I'm dealing with those jabronis."

"How about this. I can set you up by trapping those blocks in a rock wall. You can take them out in a hole above it. And I'll be near you the entire time to make sure you'll be close if the Scyphozoa does show up," Aelita said.

"I definitely like that idea. Ready?" I asked. She nodded. "Go!" I started running over to the blocks with one of my swords out and Aelita was running as well so she could get close enough to activate Creativity. I kept the lasers off her as she was conjuring the wall.

Once it was up, I immediately jumped inside the wall and gave all three blocks swift stabs before jumping out of the wall. I heard three satisfying explosions and I gave Aelita a thumbs up. She smiled as she approached me.

"That was easy," Aelita said.

"Very. All we have to do is wait for Jeremy," I told her.

"How much do you want to bet XANA is not done?" Aelita said.

"My arms and legs," I said dryly.

"I'm torn between wanting you to be right and wanting you to be wrong," Aelita said. I chuckled and shook my head at that. We waited around for a bit before I saw a Mega Tank approaching us.

"Looks like I get to keep my arms and legs," I said as I drew my sword. But the Tank wasn't focused on me. It was focused on destroying the tower.

"Oh, goddammit man!" I exclaimed as I ran towards it. It charged up for another shot and I moved my body halfway to compensate for the thin blast radius. I then made a leap at the Tank, my sword stretched out and ready to stab it. But it closed it right when the tip of it was in range of it being trapped, but not within stabbing range of its target area.

"You son of a bitch," I said as I tried my hardest to pry it out of the Tank's hold on it. No good.

Then the tank opened all of a sudden and it was charging up for another blast. I didn't even worry about my sword as I leaped to the side, but my left foot got clipped by the blast and I was sent spinning near a ledge. I had to hang on for dear life as not to fall.

"Oh, shit. Shit, shit, shit. Not now!" I exclaimed.

The Tank turned to face me and I got considerably more nervous. What if he got me this time? The thought was immediately squashed by a steely resolution. No. This bastard would not win.

The Tank charged up for a shot, but I moved my body halfway to the side and I moved one my arms off the ledge so I wouldn't get hit by the blast. Once the blast was gone, I grabbed the ledge with my other hand again. I was not doing well at all. It didn't help that I had no backup as far as weapons go.

Then the Tank turned away from me and started focusing on the tower again. I regret not calling for help as of now. Now we might lose because of it. But a large wall was put in front of the Mega Tank to block its shots. Didn't look like it would hold for very long though.

I took the opportunity to climb up on the ledge and run back towards Aelita, who was in front of the tower. But she looked a little tired.

"Are you alright?" I asked.

"I should be asking you that. Did it get you?" Aelita asked.

"Just on my leg. But I'm not sure how many life points I have left. This looks bad. Really bad," I said as I heard a loud boom. I looked over to see that the wall she made was slowly crumbling.

"That's not gonna hold forever. Did you get ahold of the others?" I asked.

"Yes. They are on their way over," Aelita said.

"Hopefully we can hold out that long. At least it's too stupid to try and go around," I said as I heard a boom from behind us. And that was not from the tank we had covered. It was on another platform.

"Aw, piss. This can't wait," I said with a growl. I then kneeled down to Aelita and looked her dead in the eyes while my hands were gripping her arms. "Listen, I might not be able to do this..."

"Correction. _We,"_ Aelita said with conviction.

"But if _we_ don't and I get in trouble, run. I want you to run," I told her. I didn't give her time to respond as I drew both of my swords and ran towards the Mega Tank that had just arrived. The wall Aelita made was still barely holding, so I still had a little time on that flank.

I skipped to it on platforms that were not on the main path and quickly got on the side of it. I shoulder charged it from the side, but it wasn't quite far enough to knock it off. It turned towards me and I waited for it to open up before I immediately stabbed in its target zone. For some reason, it was harder for me to get my sword out. And by the time I did, I was sent flying by the explosion from the Mega Tank.

"Ugh. How am I still going?" I said as I rose to my feet. I knew if I took one more hit, I was done for. But then the Tank on the other side had broken through the wall Aelita set up and was firing at the tower again. I forced myself to get to my feet and start running toward the Tank. Why was I afraid that this thing would be the death of me?

Finding strength in my legs, I ran back towards the Tank and knew I had to think of ideas. I couldn't block the blast. I would eventually be overwhelmed, and then I was done for. I had to think of something else.

"I swear to goodness Jeremy. Could you be any slower?" I said as I thought my approach over.

"I have strength for another blockade. Buy us more time," Aelita said.

"Do it, but don't hurt yourself," I said. She nodded and got to her knees before singing her Creativity song. Another rock blockade was set up, and she leaned towards the side, her face looking half conscious. I kneeled down to her and put my hands on both of her cheeks and had her look at me.

"Come on, come on Lita. Stay with me," I said, slapping her cheeks lightly.

"I'm not dying. I'm just a little tired. I've never had to use my power this much consecutively. I haven't really tested them that much other than when the situation is dire," Aelita said.

"It's fine. We just have to wait. I just wish Jeremy could get over here faster," I said.

"He's going as fast as he can," Aelita said.

"I know. I'm just tired of these stupid Tanks. I keep getting lucky that I'm only getting clipped by them and not getting hit dead on," I said.

"Wait here. Catch your breath," Aelita said as she managed to regain some of her strength. She guided me over to a tree, and I leaned against that while keeping my eye on the Tank.

"You make some good barriers," I told her. It took a long time for these tanks to bust through those walls. That guaranteed that no other monster would succeed at breaking it.

"Thanks. It's weird how XANA's attacks affect you. They seem to hurt you longer than anyone else," Aelita said.

"I thought that was just me who thought that," I said with a chuckle. "XANA, you racist prick." I had to shake my head at calling the race card against an AI. I'm sure it had no particular stereotypes against me. He likely wanted to kill me just as much as the others.

 _"Robert! Aelita! Are you alright?"_ Jeremy asked.

"Not really. We're in a bad way man. Can you get the others in here? This stupid Tank's got us pinned down. I don't think I have many life points left. Aelita's got a barrier, but I'm not sure how much longer that'll hold," I told him.

 _"Don't worry. Help is on the way,"_ Jeremy said.

"Please hurry. I don't think the tower has much left in it either," I told him.

 _"Of course he's going for the tower. XANA, you're beginning to annoy me,"_ Jeremy said.

"How do you think I feel? I'm the one getting bodied by Mega Tanks," I said, standing to my feet and keeping my swords at my side. I kept watching the Mega Tank as it was still trying to break through the barrier.

Then from a distance, I could see that Odd had leaped in the air when the Tank braced for a blast and managed to hit it in its target area while it was trying to destroy the barrier. I sighed in relief. We were fine.

"We're ok," I said. The words barely left my mouth as I felt my arms and legs being bound together and my swords fell the ground. I looked down only to see that tentacles were wrapped around my body. I didn't have to second guess what I had got myself into.

"Run," I immediately told Aelita. Instead of doing what I said, she grabbed one of my swords and slashed and one of the tentacles. She only hit one, but only two tentacles made it to my head instead of the traditional three. Then she attempted it a few more times, and I was freed of the Scyphozoa's influence.

"Why'd I have to be right about that sucker being included into the mix?" I said as I forced my self to get to my feet. I holstered my swords and watched the Scyphozoa float away. I walked over near the tower and I saw the others approaching us before looking back over to Aelita.

"Thanks for the help," I told her.

"No problem. We're in this together," Aelita said. I smiled as we walked over to the others.

"Thank you for getting here when you did," I said gratefully.

"It isn't a problem. You can just say your first words off of Lyoko were, 'Odd is the best person in the world,'" Odd said with a wide smile, making all of us roll our eyes.

"How about... no? If anything, I'd say you're one of the worst," I said, making the others laugh.

"Well, the tower awaits you both. Aelita, you first," Jeremy said. Aelita turned to me and she gave me a hug.

"See you on the other side," she said. I smiled and let her go towards the tower. I watched as she walked in the tower before turning to the others.

"To be honest, I'm amazed I'm still alive. Thanks for the help again," I said.

"No problem," Ulrich said. "Things should be considerably better for you all once you're in the human world. Well, at least you'll have more fun than on Lyoko anyway."

"Yeah, at least we got that much," I said. Then Ulrich smiled.

"Thanks for earlier," he said. I nodded. I didn't need to say anything for him to know that I was happy to help. At least, I was hoping that was the case.

"What'd you help him with?" Odd asked.

"Little futuristic advice," I told him.

"You're next Robert," Jeremy said. I walked inside the tower and I stood in the middle of the platform. "Code: Earth."

I floated high up in the tower while my eyes were closed and my arms spread out. I could hear beeping in my ears, and then I felt nothing.

The feeling of floating in cyberspace was extremely weird. I could literally feel my body forming itself while it was like I was traveling at over one hundred miles per hour.

Then it ended as quickly as it started and I could fell my body was leaned on smooth, cold metal. I turned my head and opened my eyes. I saw that the entire Lyoko gang was in front of me. My eyes immediately turned to Aelita. She smiled and kneeled down to my body lying in the scanner.

"We made it," Aelita said.

"Yeah. We did," I said as I clapped hands with Ulrich in celebration. Everyone cheered, and I smiled. It felt good to be back in a human body again.

* * *

A/N: We made it! lol. Well, we're in the human world anyways. You can only imagine things are going to get more interesting from this point. Trust me, that's the only place it can go. Hope you enjoyed.


	7. Chapter 7 - Third Wheel

Episode References: False Start

* * *

"Well, these are days I don't necessarily miss," I said as we approached Kadic.

"You're telling me," Odd said.

"Just how good were you at school?" Jeremy asked.

"Pretty good. My motivation was the problem when I'm trapped in the tedious lifestyle that is school," I said, rubbing my eyes. "Anyway, thanks for the choice of clothes Jeremy. I like them." Just about all the clothes I had were black. My T-shirt, my jeans, shoes, and the leather jacket I was wearing.

"I took you for the type to like black as your color. Either that or blue," Jeremy said.

"And you're absolutely correct. Not the first time, right?" I said with a smirk. Jeremy simply shrugged.

"Suppose not," Jeremy said.

"What don't you miss about school?" Aelita asked.

"The early mornings and the irritating people. Those two do not merge well with each other," I said.

"We have to deal Sissi every morning, so we can definitely understand that," Yumi said with a smile. I gave her a pitiful look.

"I almost regret coming here now," I said, looking towards the school.

"Ah, don't think like that," Aelita said.

"When you meet Sissi, you'll start thinking the same thing," I told her.

"He's right about that. Anyway, ready for the whole class to meet you all?" Odd asked.

"Now or never, right?" I said with a shrug. There was nothing left to do but head into the school. I was going to miss being able to stay up forever and not have to wake up for school exhausted, but there were a lot of things about the human world that would make me feel a lot better.

"What do we have first?" I asked.

"History. Don't worry. You both will do fine," Jeremy said.

"I'd feel a lot better if it were a class on computers. I don't know anything about history," Aelita said.

"That makes two of us," I said.

"That's just it. You're here to learn. If it were a computer class, you'd be the teacher," Ulrich said. I smirked.

"No kidding. She's a regular magician behind a computer," I said, taking a seat at an empty table. Aelita smiled before taking the seat right next to me. I crossed my right leg over my left one and put my hands on the back of my head in relaxation.

"Chairs are still crap," I said with an unconscious smile. Then I heard Sissi speak up, which instantly caused my eyes to snap open.

"Just who does that new girl think she is? All she cares about is having boys around her," I heard her say. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. It's only the first day. Let me try and keep a cool head. Tuning her out and focusing on my business was the best thing I could do right now. Well, I didn't want to make a bad impression on the first day by cursing Sissi out.

"Can you help me with this stuff?" Aelita asked. I opened one eye and looked at her worried face.

"I'll definitely help when I can. But some of the stuff you'll have to learn yourself," I told her.

"That's fair. I just want to get a small grasp on the subject," Aelita said.

"And I'll give you that start. But you have nothing to worry about. You're smart. You'll figure it out quickly," I assured her.

"So we have two new students in our classroom. I'll let them introduce themselves," the teacher suddenly said, gesturing for us to have the floor. I looked towards Aelita.

"Go ahead," I told her reassuringly as everyone looked at her.

"I, um... my..." I gave her a reassuring smile and she seemed to be able to un-stick her tongue a little. "My name is Aelita."

"Aelita. And you are?" the teacher asked, turning to me.

"I am Robert. I'm a bit new to France. I'm originally from America," I told the teacher.

"America? A few of my family members live there. Is it nice?" the teacher asked.

"It's home. That doesn't mean I won't give my time here a chance. I assure you of that," I said.

"That type of positivity is refreshing to hear, young man. I'm glad to hear that," the teacher said warmly. "Well, let me be one of the first to welcome you both to Kadic Junior High. We hope that you're going to like it hear very much." Aelita looked nervous as the teacher started going over the lesson.

"You'll be fine. How many times do I have to reassure you?" I asked her without hardly moving my lips.

"It's not that. It's just the pressure of being around so many people other than you all," Aelita said.

"It gets kind of overwhelming at times. But you'll get used to it," I assured her.

"I hope you're right about that," Aelita said. "Then again, you've be right so far, haven't you?" I smiled.

"Watch me end up making a mistake one of these days. Then my record won't be as spotless," I said with a smirk.

History passed by far quicker than I initially thought. In what seemed like at no time at all we were out and sitting around some benches outside.

"You see? Everything's cool. There was no reason to worry," Jeremy said.

"I guess not. Besides, I really like history. But you gotta admit. You guys fight a lot here. There are wars all the time," Aelita said.

"That's cause people can be stupid, greedy, and illogical. Illogical above all because if they were logical, they wouldn't start the war in the first place," I said, leaning over the back of the bench.

"I can definitely agree with you there," Jeremy said.

"Hey guys. Well, how are our little earthlings doing?" Yumi asked, walking up to us.

"We come in peace. We have come for this planet looking for intelligent life. Oops. We made a mistake," I said in my martian voice, making the entire group laugh. "In all seriousness, I say things are going rather well."

"I'm fine. I'm trying to adapt to so many new sensations. Like the air you breathe here, all the colors, the smells... But I'm fine," Aelita assured her.

"So am I," I added.

"That's good," Yumi said.

"I wish we could deactivate the Supercomputer at this point, but remembered what you said about taking a piece of Aelita's memory," Jeremy said.

"If only it were that easy. Unfortunately it's not," I said.

"We may as well start an analysis later. See if we can find a way to track that piece of her memory," Jeremy said.

"Yeah, that's definitely a good idea. Maybe we can actually succeed in getting the missing piece of her memory. Well, the _right_ piece," I said.

"That would be nice. I'm sure it would save us a lot of stressful days if we can get it done," Jeremy said.

"Let's do it," Odd said, clapping his hands together. The rest of the day passed by in a sort of familiar numbness that I had learned when I was in school. At least the day was normal. That much we got.

Ulrich and Odd decided on staying at the dorm rather than coming along. They knew the rest of us had it down pat. Yumi decided on heading to her place early. She'd have some excuse about our late arrival, which was beyond useful. Yumi knew how to come in clutch.

Swinging on the ropes that hung near the factory was actually a lot easier and a lot more fun than I thought it was. I didn't feel as confident in my abilities as I was on Lyoko, but I would certainly probe the waters a bit. Which basically meant I would spar with Ulrich, and see if I don't get knocked flat on my ass after... what? Ten seconds?

"You think we'll be able to find anything?" Jeremy asked.

"I can't be sure. I know you discovered that it was missing memory, not a virus later on through what I assumed would be research," I told Jeremy as we walked in the elevator.

"I sincerely hope so. I half don't even want to know what happened in the original timeline. I'm afraid I'll hear something I won't like," Jeremy said. I looked towards Aelita for a brief moment before leaning my arm on the elevator wall next to me.

"You're not wrong," I said.

We arrived in the factory, and it was a lot more overwhelming than looking at it through a TV screen. It actually made me feel like I was in a Star Wars starship or something. I loved it.

"Head for the scanners. They're just below us," Jeremy told Aelita. She nodded and got on the elevator before heading further down.

"Launching program. Data recovery," Jeremy said, typing on the keyboard. "We're ready to begin the analysis. That's fine Aelita. You can come back now."

"Found anything yet?" I asked.

"No. Not just yet. The data's still coming though," Jeremy said before the computer began to beep loudly.

"It looks like a virus," Aelita said.

"No, I know for a fact it's missing memory," I said.

"It sure doesn't look like it," Jeremy said.

"Have I been wrong yet?" I asked.

"Well, no. But the facts are right here," Jeremy said, gesturing to his screen.

"Jeremy, this isn't the first time XANA has tried to trick us. You know that," Aelita said. "Things aren't always what they seem when it comes to XANA."

"You're right. I'm just wondering how XANA even knows how to bend the facts," Jeremy said.

"Cause he's a learning AI. He's trying different tactics as he fails each time. It's how he works," I explained to him.

"Which makes him deadlier after every defeat. That bothers me," Jeremy said before rising to his feet. "You know, it's getting kind of late. I need to show the both of you to Yumi's."

"Yes, please," I said. I was definitely ready to turn in for the day. Jeremy kept a program going as we walked out of the door. Then we began our long walk toward Yumi's house with Jeremy leading us.

"What a strange sensation," Aelita said as she held her arms from the chilly air. Oy, this was going to be so cheesy.

"Put this on. It helps," I said, taking off my jacket and handing it to her. She grabbed my jacket and put it on while holding the unzipped sides together while looking down.

"What am I feeling?" Aelita asked.

"You're shivering that's all. It's a reaction you get on account of the cold," Jeremy said.

"I absolutely hate it. Personally, I prefer the heat. I don't feel as uncomfortable," I said.

"I like the feeling of being a little chilly," Aelita said. I had to restrain myself from snorting. I dared her to say that when the winter came.

"And the sounds and the smells are all different at night," she continued.

"Yeah," Jeremy said. "It's quiet and peaceful, and the plants they all breathe differently."

When the two of them were walking together, I felt awkward being there. I hung back behind them cause I felt like a major third wheel. It's always been an uncomfortable feeling. So I just stayed quiet while making sure to keep up.

Jeremy picked a flower from one of the patches nearby and handed it to Aelita.

"Here, smell this," he said, handing the flower to Aelita. She smelled it, and a big smile came to her face.

"Mmm. It's wonderful to be alive," she said. I had my hands in my pockets and I looked to the sky with my eyes closed. The wind on my face felt so good. She wasn't lying. It was good to be alive again. So liberating and refreshing in ways you just couldn't get on Lyoko.

"You're pretty quiet," Aelita said, suddenly turning back to me. "You ok?"

"I'm fine. Just deep in thought," I said before having to restrain a shiver. The cold air was now starting to get to me. But the real reason I was so quiet was cause I just wanted them these to have their moment together. But I'm only in the way because I don't know how to get to Yumi's house by myself.

Then I didn't notice that they had stopped for a moment until I ran directly into Jeremy's back, making him nearly fall. I scratched the back of my head awkwardly.

"Sorry about that. I'm just distracted," I told him.

"It's fine," Jeremy said as he straightened his crooked glasses. Though I could tell ever so slightly in his tone that he was a little annoyed.

"What's bothering you?" Aelita asked.

"Nothing's bothering me. Like I said, I'm just distracted," I said. Aelita seemed to assess my honesty for a few moments before smiling. Man, I knew for a fact this was unintentional cock blocking. I don't blame Jeremy for being a little annoyed with me.

"Well, ok. But... mind if we take a minor detour?" Aelita asked.

"Detour?" I questioned. Aelita then grabbed Jeremy's hand and lead him away. I groaned. I couldn't wait until I can figure out the way to Yumi's myself. Then I wouldn't have to worry about screwing up what these two had going on. Plus I was cold, and I knew for a fact I could move faster than this.

Regardless of my impatience, I followed the two to where Aelita dragged Jeremy to. She pointed to a photo booth.

"Is that a scanner?" Aelita asked.

"No, it's a photo booth," I told her. "It takes pictures of you. You and Jeremy want to try?"

"Sure. Care to join us?" Aelita asked. I shook my head.

"Nah, I'm not really one for pictures. Go on ahead you two and make memories," I said with a smirk. The picture thing wasn't an excuse. I really hated taking pictures at times. Mainly the ones with flashes. I felt half blind after taking one.

"Suit yourself," Aelita said, dragging Jeremy into the booth. I leaned on the outside of the photo booth while those two started snapping pictures. During which I had gone deep in thought again.

 _"Ok, so XANA's got the piece of Aelita's memory he needs, and he hasn't changed tactics yet. So far, so good. But I'm worried he might find another way to get to her. In a way that I can't predict and XANA will free himself from Lyoko. Then there's regular life, lies, school, other things to that might come up that I'm going to have to balance,"_ I ranted in my head. _"Man, my head is spinning from all of this shit. I've never felt this stressed. This is easily the most I've ever been stressed, no competition. But that burden comes with being a Lyoko Warrior. It's not going to be easy, but-"_

"Hey, are you still lost in your thoughts?" Aelita asked, making me look up swiftly.

"Yeah. Just a little bit worried about XANA. It's stressing me out a little," I told him. Jeremy put a reassuring hand on my shoulder.

"It'll be fine. You'll see," Jeremy said. I nodded, but I wasn't really agreeing. I just did it to get them off my back. Somebody had to worry at this point. Otherwise we're all fucked. I was a master of focusing on the worst case scenario.

After long last, we finally arrived at Yumi's house and I couldn't wait to immediately walk in the house. I was free of the pressure of being a third wheel once I walked in. I walked in to see Mr. and Mrs. Ishiyama sitting on the couch.

"Ah. You must be Aelita's brother," Mr. Ishiyama said.

"How'd you guess?" I asked.

"You don't look from around here, and you walked inside like you lived here. You couldn't have at least knocked?" Mr. Ishiyama said, making me scratch my head in embarrassment.

"I am so sorry. I've just had a lot of stuff on my mind. The day has been a little stressful," I told him.

"Yeah, I could tell. That's why I'm not too upset with you. Where's your sister?" Mr. Ishiyama asked.

"Outside. Just finishing a conversation with someone. She'll be in soon," I said, rubbing my eyes. "I have no idea where I am going to sleep."

"With your sister. It's the only spare room we have available. Unless you'd rather take the couch," Mrs. Ishiyama said.

"No, that'll be fine. Which door is it?" I asked politely.

"Third from the right. And don't forget to knock next time," Mr. Ishiyama reminded me. I nodded.

"I'll definitely try and remember that," I said, walking towards the door that he had indicated. I walked inside the room, and it was fairly small. It was obviously intended for one person, but two kids could share it.

I looked inside the closet and saw that there was an entire bag of clothes for me. There was one for Aelita on the other half of the closet as well. Both bags had toothbrushes and separate tubes of toothpaste for us. Wow, how'd they get all this stuff?

I grabbed my toothbrush and toothpaste before heading into the bathroom to brush my teeth. Soon after, I could hear that Aelita walked into the room. I looked to the side and waved, my mouth to full of toothpaste to say anything.

"How are you doing?" Aelita said.

"Good," I said, my tone muffled by the toothpaste.

"I had a wonderful night," Aelita said, as I spit out the toothpaste in my mouth.

"I figured you would. You and Jeremy got along great, didn't you?" I said before I started brushing again.

"Yes we did. Sort of like we did when you arrived on Lyoko," Aelita said. I shrugged.

"You two have a lot in common," I said, brushing the bottom left row of my teeth.

"I suppose so. So what's next?" Aelita asked.

"You brush your teeth and go to sleep," I told her.

"Will you show me?" Aelita asked. I looked at her strangely. I could understand why she asked me, but it was still the strangest question I've ever been asked. But I would start now. Her training steps into humanity. I put all of the brushed toothpaste on the left side of my mouth so I could talk clearly. Though I'd have to try and make sure I didn't accidentally spit any out.

"There's an item that's similar to these things on top of your bag," I said, showing her my toothbrush and tube of toothpaste. "Get them." Aelita walked over to the closet and grabbed the toothbrush and toothpaste before walking back to me.

"Ok, now what?" Aelita asked.

"Open the cap of toothpaste and lightly squeeze the toothpaste while the tip of the tube is near the brush," I told her gently. She did exactly that she squeezed only a little. So small, it was only about a centimeter.

"Not enough. Spread it to about halfway," I told her. She nodded before spreading more on it. She then looked back at me.

"Now, when you're brushing your teeth, you move the brush from side to side and up and down, but make sure to do it with force so the toothpaste will be forced out of its solid, pasty form and into a more liquid one. Like this," I said, starting to brush my teeth with vigor. Aelita looked at my actions and attempted to copy my movements. For the most part, she was successful.

"There you go. Just make sure to brush all of your teeth so they'll all get clean. From the front and the back of your teeth. When you can't really manage the toothpaste in your mouth, spit it down the sink. But don't do it forever. Just do it for about 10-15 minutes. I'll tell you when," I told her.

She nodded and we both began brushing out teeth in silence. She seemed to naturally get the hang of it, and I didn't really have to tell her much for her to figure it out. I mean, brushing your teeth was very simple, but it was nice to see her adapt. Mainly cause I hated how tedious repeating stuff could be. To see her get it down almost instantly was a relief. I finished brushing my tongue before washing the toothpaste off.

"That sounded was unpleasant," Aelita said, after hearing my gagging from brushing my tongue.

"It is. But my tongue has to get clean as well," I said.

"Your tongue as well?" Aelita asked.

"Yup. I basically brush my tongue, wait until my gag reflex activates, before stopping and hawking up like I'm trying to get out mucus, and I spit it out. Not hard really," I told her. Aelita leaned near the sink before brushing her tongue like she saw me do. She gagged, immediately stopped, and hawked on demand before spitting in the sink. I smiled.

"You're starting to adapt to the way your body works. Good on you," I told her as I put my toothbrush in one of the plastic bags I assumed was to hold our toothbrushes. "Don't come out until I say it's alright. I'm about to change into different clothes." She nodded as I walked out of the door.

I searched the bag for anything I could wear and I saw gym shorts and a muscle shirt, even though I had no muscles. I was skinny as all living shit. But hey. At least it was comfortable.

I quickly changed and told her it was alright to come out as I put my discarded clothes to the side. She immediately walked out while carrying my jacket.

"I can assume you want this back?" Aelita asked.

"Yeah. I'm kinda gonna need it," I said, grabbing my jacket and tossing in the closet. "I'll stay in the bathroom while you change."

"What's wrong with what I have on?" Aelita asked. I ended up staring longer than what was necessary before answering.

"Nothing. If you change into something more comfortable, you'll be more satisfied as you lay down to go to sleep," I told her.

"Ah. Well, I'll see if I can find something good in the bag. In the meanwhile, stay in the bathroom until I tell you when it's alright," Aelita said. I nodded and walked in the bathroom while sitting down on the toilet seat. I felt tired as I sat on the toilet. I was half asleep when Aelita told me that she was ready.

I groggily stood to my feet and walked out of the bathroom. Aelita had decided on a long night shirt with an A on it. I threw her the thumbs up before cutting off the light and collapsing on my pallet.

"Good night," Aelita said, climbing in the only bed in the room. I had put my hands behind my head and looked at the ceiling. I tended to get lost in thought before I went to sleep. It took a while for me to go to sleep, which was weird considering how tired I felt, but I eventually drifted off to sleep for a peaceful night.


	8. Chapter 8 - Lasers Burn

Also references the False Start episode

* * *

"You cannot be serious right now!" I said as I helped Ulrich push the crowd back and slam the door shut. "Of course XANA had to start bringing monsters to the real world. Fucking fantastic."

The entire class ran to the very back of the room, but the five of us remained huddled together to discuss things.

"XANA's changed tactics. He sent one of his monsters to Earth for the first time. How'd he manage that?" Jeremy questioned.

"Right now, let's not worry about the why. Let's worry about the here and now. And right now, we need to kick XANA's digital ass again," I told him.

"But how are we going to deal with them? If we get past the one outside the door, who's to say we won't run into more that XANA might spawn?" Odd asked.

"Like we always do. We fight them. You guys head for Lyoko and deactivate the tower. I'll stay here and defend the home front," Ulrich said.

"You're going to need help. Things will get rough," I told him, stepping forward.

"I can't ask you to do that," Ulrich said.

"Who said you had to ask?" I said with a smirk. Ulrich smiled before it quickly disappeared and he began to call Yumi. I turned to the others.

"Go. Now," I told them.

"Be careful," Aelita told me. I gave her a two fingered salute.

"Don't worry Lita. It's me, remember?" I said with a smile that was more confident than what I felt.

"That's exactly what I'm worried about..." Aelita said before running off with the others. It didn't take long for Ulrich to get his message to Yumi and he faced me immediately after speaking.

"We're meeting Yumi outside of the math class," he told me.

"We need to find something to deal with these things. God, I would love if I had my swords right now," I said.

"You and me both. But we'll have to make do," Ulrich said as we went back outside the hallways. Another student was being chased, and we turned to it. Couldn't stand these stupid things.

Ulrich got into a combative position and my combat instincts came into play as I held my hands out in front of me.

"Let's see how good you are," Ulrich said, starting to run towards the monster. I did the same and the monster missed us both each time before we jumped over it. Then I lashed out with my foot and kicked it down the hall like a soccer ball.

"Good riddance," I said before following Ulrich down the stairs. After made it down the steps and we were running down the hallway, a couple lasers passed us. I looked behind me to see that another Kankrelat was following us.

"Well shit," I said, before I felt a laser blast me in my side and I stumbled a little before continuing myself to move forward. "God, Lyoko spoiled me. This hurts way worse."

"I could kind of figure that," Ulrich said. I kept an eye on the Kankrelat behind me so I would know which way it was firing.

"Duck!" Ulrich said. I immediately ducked my head and right after, a javelin launched over my head and impaled itself directly into the monster. Looking forward, I saw that Yumi was the tosser.

"Woo! Thanks for that," I gratefully told her.

"What would you do without me?" Yumi said, putting a relaxed hand on the back of her head. I rolled my eyes before noticing that there were more monsters coming our way.

"Do you have a plan for the other ones that are in pursuit?" I told her, pointing behind me. Her eyes widened at my discovery and she instantly grabbed Ulrich's wrist and dragged him along.

"Thanks for leaving the guy that's already been shot," I said to myself before quickly following them. When we made it outside, I could see that there was a spread of them coming our way from the cafeteria.

"You have _got_ to be fucking kidding me!" I yelled in frustration before starting my sprint again. When I passed a tool shed, I was immediately grabbed by my left arm by two pairs of hands and dragged into the shed. It didn't take me long to notice it was Ulrich and Yumi, but I also immediately noticed the numerous amount of tools that were in the shed.

"What to choose... what to choose," I said as I rose to my feet. Ulrich and Yumi went for the chainsaw and axe. I looked around and saw that there was a pickaxe hanging on the wall as well as a small sickle. I kept the sickle in my back pocket and used the pickaxe as my main weapon. Then I swung the pickaxe like a bo staff.

 _"Ok, how do I even know what that is?"_ I thought to myself before shaking my head. Now I just needed to focus on killing some monsters.

"Ok, let's show em what we can do," Yumi said as the three of us stood in the center of the shed.

"Let's," I said, holding the stuff under my armpit to keep it steady. Then we ran out of the shed and I ran behind the small group of three monsters that were ahead of the lone monster in the back. I struck the one on right before quickly turning it and hitting the monsters in the middle. Then I drew my sickle and threw it at the third monster.

"Yup. I still got it," I said as I dived out of the way of the fourth monster's laser. I was hiding behind a tree and I heard Yumi and Ulrich yelling before I heard a loud crash. I came from around the corner while removing the monsters that were stuck on my pickaxe. I then removed my sickle out of the third monster.

"That's that," I said idly, putting the sickle back in my back pocket. Barely three seconds passed before more monsters ending up surrounding us. And the bad part about this was that Jim was not a part of this. So we had no backup. And that nail gun would've been useful to have against these things.

"Well, fuck. This might be bad," I said idly.

"You think? Well, where's your futuristic planning?" Ulrich asked as we backed up together.

"I don't have anything planned for this situation. The best idea we have is to lead them away from here and not get shot in the process," I told them.

"Should we split up?" Yumi asked. I shook my head.

"Splitting up is the worse idea you can do in situations like this. Let's stay together and lead them to a more isolated part of the town. That way no one will get hurt," I told them. They nodded and I looked around us.

We were surrounded by numerous monsters and saw only the smallest of holes. We were very much surrounded. Then I had an idea.

"If we managed to get up a tree and stay there, we should be fine. They can't shoot from above. But we should pick a location near the factory. Just in case," I told the both of them.

"That sounds like a good idea, but they can climb up trees you know," Yumi said.

"And we have weapons that'll knock them off," I said as I ducked a laser. "Let's go!"

Our only option was to make a break for it. We had to keep sidestepping lasers before we were out of their little circle of death. We ended up near the manhole that we go down to get to the and we quickly began climbing up the tree as fast as possible. I let Yumi and Ulrich go first while I kept an eye out for monsters coming our way. Sure enough, I could see that they were scurrying towards the direction that we ran towards. But it didn't look like they had seen us yet.

"Hurry up," I muttered.

"We're going as fast as we can," Yumi told me. I then began heading up the tree to avoid being seen by the monsters and I laid on a branch. Nothing but do to wait for Jeremy and the others to deactivate the tower.

Then Ulrich's phone rang all of a sudden, and he quickly answered it as not to draw the monsters.

"We're stuck here. There are monsters all over the place. Ok, we'll see if we can get two of us down there. I just hope we can make it," Ulrich said, cutting of the call. He looked down and I did as well. The monsters had definitely noticed, and they were waiting directly at the bottom.

"Well, that's great. I think I'll stay here while you two go. I'll drive a few of them away so it'll be easier," I told them.

"That's crazy," Ulrich said.

"I've always been crazy. Let's move," I said, sliding down the tree and landed directly on top of my pickaxe and balancing myself on the end of it. I retained some of my Lyoko skills. which was pretty damn lucky.

I removed the pickaxe out of the monster I impaled and immediately took off away from the factory. I glanced behind me to see that all of the monsters were in pursuit. But I knew that those were not all of them. Looks like they would have a little trouble, but not as much as I would have.

I heard lasers being fired from behind me me rapidly, and it's a good thing I was in the forest. These trees provided me with a lot of cover, and that was perfect for a situation like this.

 _"I can't keep running forever. Gotta find a place to hide out at,"_ I thought to myself as I was running.

When I got a decent distance away from the monsters to the point where they couldn't shoot me anymore, I decided to climb up another tree that was near me. I let out a sigh of relief once I got to the top and I knew it would be considerably easy from this point on.

I simply relaxed on top of the branch before taking out the phone that Jeremy had given me when I arrived for school this morning and went into the contacts to call him on the Supercomputer.

 _"Robert? You ok?"_ Jeremy asked. _"Are you on your way over here?"_

"Ulrich and Yumi are. I stayed behind to keep the monsters distracted. I'm currently on top of a branch to... Oh, get down you little bitch!" I said, using one arm to swing my sickle at the Kankrelat trying to crawl up the tree I was on. "But yeah. They can't shoot at me from up here, and if they try to climb up, I knock them down. So easy I can do this and talk to you."

 _"Glad you're having fun,"_ Jeremy said dryly.

"Who said I was having fun? It's pretty boring, really. I'm ready for you all to go ahead and get this tower done. Since I've been marked as a 'Lyoko Warrior,' that makes me just as much of a target as you now. Cause I think I may have made XANA a _little_ mad," I said.

 _"If by 'mad,' you mean helping us foil several of his plans, then yes. He's definitely mad at you. And I'm looking more into this Sector Five thing you mentioned. I haven't found the password thing you mentioned, but I'm still searching. I'm also trying to find out more about Aelita's missing memory, but I haven't come up with much,"_ Jeremy explained to me.

"You'll find it. Remember, I know, remember?" I said, my tone light and full of the cockiness from the smirk on my face.

 _"Thanks for the reassurance. I need to get back to Lyoko,"_ Jeremy told me.

"I'm sure the Return of the Past will let me know..." I said as I lunged at two Kankrelats that were trying to climb on the tree. But I barely had to move my arm to do so. "... when you've succeeded."

 _"Yes it will. Bye,"_ Jeremy said.

"See ya," I said, hanging up. I put my phone back in my pocket, and it was so old that if you carried one of these around in my dimension, you'd most likely be laughed at for being too poor to afford a decent phone. But hey. Unlike in my dimension, I was having more fun with my friends than my phone.

I almost wasn't concerned at all about the monsters still trying to get up here to kill me cause they posed almost no threat. But then I saw that they wandered off. I frowned. That didn't look like good news.

So I planted my pick axe in the tree after putting my sickle back in my back pocket and I used the pickaxe to slide down the tree and make it down to the ground fast. Then I felt a laser get shot right in my knee.

"Oh, you sneaky little fuckers..." I said when I realized that they were waiting for me.

I dived behind a tree from the next few lasers that were coming my direction and I hissed from how badly my knee hurt. I knew I was not going to be able to run as fast as I normally would. But if I could just finish the last two of these little pests off, I would be good. I opted for the second option.

I was patient as I heard the monsters scurrying around. It would be plain idiotic to just go out there and run up to them. Especially with an injured leg. It hurt to stand on the thing, much less walk on it. So waiting was definitely the smartest option.

I saw them as they scurried past me, and I stifled down my desire to repeatedly say 'ow' because of my leg. I went up behind the one on the left and raised my pickaxe high and slammed it on top of the monster's head. Even with an injured leg, compared to me, these things were still slow and stupid.

I removed the pickaxe out of the monster and started to limp over to where I found the other monster, only to be immediately shot in my uninjured knee. Man, what was is with these monsters and aiming for my knees? What have they done to them? Besides help punt one of their buddies down a hall. Maybe this was that monster I kicked and he was mad as shit? Couldn't blame him. I wouldn't want to be treated like a soccer ball.

But I came out of my contemplating to remove my sickle from my back pocket it and throw it at the monster. It went right through it, but the monster had also gotten a laser shot on my cheek and I yelled when I felt it burn right through a bone in my cheek. It felt worse than laying on a hot oven.

My entire body tensed up and I held my cheek from the pain of my wound. I was afraid to even move my mouth cause I was scared it would hurt like crazy.

"Robert!" I could hear Odd yell. I raised my head to see him running towards me. "Thought you could use some help."

"That help would've been nice about thirty seconds ago. Ugh..." I said, clenching my injured cheek even harder and biting my tongue to stifle my cries of pain.

"You ok?" Odd asked me, sounding concerned.

"Not really. One of the monsters nailed my cheek before I destroyed it. It..." I stopped mid-sentence because a really sharp bolt of pain hit my cheek. "It feels like it penetrated the bone."

"Ouch. We might as well try to get you to the infirmary in the mean time," Odd said, grabbing my by one of my arms and slinging around his shoulder. But my knees immediately gave out once they touched the ground. "You're not making this much easier."

"Cause my knees are completely useless right now. It might be better to just wait it out. I'll deal with the pain until it's all over," I assured Odd.

"If you say - what in the heck?!" Odd exclaimed. "That mark does not look healthy."

"It hurts like all living shit as you can very well imagine. Look, I can take it," I assured him. "Besides, it won't be long until the tower is deactivated anyway."

"But it just makes me uncomfortable to look at it. I'm taking you," Odd said.

"Fine. Have it your way. But just let me try and help," I said, using the pickaxe as a type of crutch to help my standing position. Then we finally managed to get moving, but I could see and flash of white engulf my vision and all of a sudden I felt like a consciousness rather than a person. In a few seconds, we were back in class, all of my wounds healed. It was such a startling change, that I scooted back in my chair and looked down at the ground while clutching my head.

 _"Man, that's a serious mind fuck,"_ I thought, feeling slightly nauseous. I unconsciously ran my hand over the part that the Kankrelat shot me at.

"Mr. Morgan?" I heard the teacher ask. I quickly looked back up on instinct and tried to hide how uncomfortable I felt. Not from the stares that immediately came in my direction, but from my nauseous experience of the Return to the Past. I held up my pencil as a quick excuse.

"Dropped this," I said as a quick lie. My facial expression didn't twitch in the slightest. It's amazing how much better at lying I've gotten since the last few years.

"Well, perhaps you can tell us what prime numbers are," the teacher said. I internally groaned and I could tell a few students were grinning. But then I frowned slightly. Suddenly, the information came on demand.

"Well?" the teacher asked. I looked back up and started him right in his eyes.

"A pair of prime numbers occur when their highest common denominator is one," I said, sighing in relief that I got an answer out. But... there was more.

"Very good. Although..."

"In a principle ring, it's equivalent to the fact that their direct sum is equal to one, but of course with a non-principle factorial ring, that is not the case," I explained, the flow of knowledge coming out like word vomit. And I half didn't want to stop. But I did cause everyone was looking at me like I had three heads.

"Um... ok then. You are absolutely correct," the teacher said, turning back to the board with a distracted look. I then faced everyone looking at me and raised an eyebrow.

"You all gonna say something, or are you just gonna gawk at me like I've just grown three heads? Cause I'm not a science display," I said with my tone getting impatient. Some stares lingered, but for the most part, they turned away and I preferred it that way. I faced the front of the class and I rubbed my forehead.

"Aelita really saved your butt, she? But it's still crazy that you remembered everything she said," Odd whispered to me. I frowned. It didn't feel like a memory. More like something I just knew. But I figured Odd was right.

"Neither do I. It just... came to me. Maybe my memory is better than I thought," I said. I remained quiet for the rest of the lesson, and the teacher didn't even bother calling on me for another question. I just probably gave _him_ a lesson. And he's the damn teacher!

I was distracted as I left the classroom and I seemed to be numbed out from the rest of the world. Then a soft hand on my shoulder caused me to jump a lot harder than was necessary. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see that Aelita had moved her hand off my shoulder like my shoulder was hotter than the Kankrelat's lasers.

"You look pretty out of it," Jeremy told me. I raised a dismissive hand.

"It's fine. I had a bad adjustment to the Return to the Past trip. Felt pretty nauseous," I said.

"Why? We've never had that problem," Jeremy asked.

"Well, I've felt like that a couple of times. Usually I've had an injury of some kind," Ulrich said. I pointed at him.

"I'm sure that's my reason why. Got shot in my cheek and my kneecaps by those things. They carry a nasty punch," I said as we walked to the next class.

"You've got to be a little used to it. I mean, you've been on Lyoko for a while," Jeremy said.

"They hurt A LOT worse in the real world. Like, the shot to my cheek penetrated through my skin and stopped on the bone. Like, how do you shake something like that off?" I questioned, making Jeremy's eyes widen. "And unlike Lyoko, the pain doesn't numb down. It only continues."

"Man, that's rough. I'm glad I didn't get shot by one of those things," Ulrich said.

"Me either," Odd said.

"Ironically, in the canon version of this event, you do. So you're welcome," I told Ulrich. "But I think the return of the past heals all of your wounds, but you adjust to the return trip a lot more uncomfortably."

"I'll definitely make note of that," Jeremy said.

"At least I'm alright now. I'll take the nausea over healing those wounds naturally," I said, continuing.

"So you're alright now?" Aelita asked me.

"I'm very much alright. Thanks for asking. Now can we move on with our lives? I'd much rather forget that I nearly got shot all to hell," I said.

"Gladly," Jeremy said. I smiled and rested my arms on the shoulders of my friends as we all walked out of the building.

* * *

A/N: You're probably thinking why I had the lasers do much damage than was portrayed in the show. Well, let me tell you why. It's a kids show. No one's supposed to die, bleed spontaneously, or show any of the stuff that's inside their body. Here, I don't care about censoring that shit. Realistically, if you get hit with a laser, you're gonna get burned to hell. It penetrating your skin and burning the flesh on your bones is not an impossibility. So think about that the next time you watch this episode.


	9. Chapter 9 - In Between the Worlds

A/N: Yes, I'm giving you two chapters. Why? Cause I just feel like it.

Episode References: New Order

* * *

"Now THIS is a race," I said I was using Force Sprint to dash ahead of the others. "You better ramp up those vehicles guys! Even on those things, you are still eating my dust!"

"Oh, now you're asking for it!" Ulrich yelled back as he pulled his right handlebar further back and upped the speed, pulling him right next to me. "Man, your Super Sprint is much faster than mine."

" _Force_ Sprint. How many times do I have to remind you?" I told him. Ulrich rolled his eyes as Odd came speeding up to us.

"Forgot about me, didn't ya?" he said. I gave him an amused grin before upping the rate of my footsteps. I just edged ahead of Ulrich's bike as we came in the tunnel. I jumped from the ground and onto the wall, quickly making my way to the top. Once near the edge, I made a big leap off the edge while also using Force Jump to propel myself really far. So far that I would've gone off the ledge if I didn't force myself to slow down. I had a cocky grin on my face as I walked up to a sprawled Odd, who had obviously crashed.

"Now that's what you call leg power," I said, pointing my index fingers at Odd like they were pistols. Ulrich landed smoothly from a ramp jump and let out an entertained laugh when he landed. Then I could see Yumi and Aelita coming up from behind Ulrich.

"Odd!" Yumi exclaimed. Aelita jumped off the... whatever the hell Yumi's vehicle was called to check on him.

"Are you ok?" she asked.

"Oh, yeah. There's still some work to do on the overboard Jeremy," Odd said.

"Uh, maybe it's the rider who needs work," me and Jeremy said at the same time before I spread my arms wide and pointed at myself while grinning. "But how about we congratulate the devilishly handsome winner of this race?" I could see everyone roll their eyes at me. And I didn't have to be a psychic to know Jeremy was doing the same.

"To be fair, you've gotten a lot faster. But you did great nonetheless," Aelita said kindly, regardless of her exasperation.

I smiled warmly at her before turning to Odd, still smiling. "No autographs, please."

"You're flattering yourself too much," Odd said stubbornly. My smile turned into a wide smirk, and Ulrich smirked at Odd as well.

"What happened Odd? You miss a step?" he said, laughing at Odd's epic fail.

"Very funny. I'd like to see you on a overboard," Odd said, pointing to where he crashed.

"I guess surfing's not my thing," Ulrich said, waving his arm to emphasize his point.

"Uh, sorry to interrupt your fascinating conversation, but it look like XANA has spotted you. There's something coming your way," Jeremy warned us. I turned my neck from side to side to crack it before flexing my shoulders.

"Excellent. Entertainment," I said with an amused smile.

"That's really weird. I... I can't tell what it is," Jeremy said, before Yumi tapped me on my shoulder.

"You recognize that?" she asked me, pointing the direction the monster was coming from. I could see a Tarantula quickly making its way over here like its life depended on it. Knowing XANA, probably was. Doesn't mean it wasn't going to go down when it got here though.

"Yup. It means business. Odd, climb on top of that rock and take a sniping position. Yumi, I want you on the other rock, ready with those fans of yours. Ulrich, distract it with a triangulation. Me and along with you and your clones will converge on it at the same time while you two are providing overhead cover. When I say now, everyone act," I explained to the group, quickly taking charge. They all nodded and immediately went to go take their positions. Then I took a few steps before looking back at Aelita.

"Might wanna gain some distance away from here. This could get hairy," I told her. She nodded and turned around before getting ready to run. I walked up next to Ulrich, who already had his sword drawn before I drew my own blades.

"This thing's got more life points than all the others," Jeremy said.

"They aren't things to be trifled with. They can fire fast and have pretty accurate aim. Do not underestimate them. Stick to the plan and back each other up. We got this," I said in a serious tone.

"Let's do this," Ulrich said, eyeing the monster with a deadly expression.

"Now!" I exclaimed, running up towards the monster. It immediately began firing, not at me, but at Yumi who was already at the top. She didn't even have a chance to throw her fans before she was forced off of the platform from the fast rate that the lasers were heading towards her.

"Triangulate!" Ulrich exclaimed, trapping the creature. But the monster still was concerned with what was going on from above him rather than what was going on at his level. He then began firing at Odd, who began firing back enthusiastically. Lasers met Laser Arrows in mid-flight before I jumped at it at a fast speed.

"Now!" I exclaimed. The Ulrichs quickly jumped at the creature, but it batted away two clones like they were flies. The real Ulrich quickly jumped on it while drawing his sword. It attempted to raise its arm to try and shoot Ulrich off, but I severed both of its arms in one quick slice with each of my swords.

"Impact!" Ulrich exclaimed, stabbing it in its target area. He then jumped off, but didn't seem to be completely destroyed yet. Now that surprised me.

 _"That should've killed it. Even though it has a lot of life points, that should've killed it,"_ I thought to myself. But Odd still had the situation covered as he began raining down Laser Arrows on it, none of them hitting its target area, but they were hitting its body and head. So it was still decent damage.

Then I heard a yell from Yumi as her fan sailed towards the monster. With no guns available to it because they were severed, it had no choice but to take the fan straight to its target area. That did it in and it finally exploded.

"Holy crap. That thing took a lot," Ulrich said.

"No kidding," I said before thinking. _"I just hope this was a one time thing."_

"It didn't stand a chance," Odd said in a cocky tone. I rolled my eyes before addressing Jeremy.

"We're compromised. We need to go ahead and get out of here before he sends more of these things. And fast before we get overwhelmed," I said.

"There's a deactivated tower not far from you. Direction: North by northwest. I can transfer you all back here," Jeremy said. "And before you can ask Odd, I'm bringing you your vehicles."

"You know me all too well Jeremy," Odd said as their vehicles were being virtualized. But I gave them all a two fingered salute.

"You're still going to eat my dust," I said before dashing off towards the tower, leaving a cloud of dust in my wake. I ran into Aelita on the way and picked her up before quickly stopping directly in front of the tower.

"Even when you're fighting things, I can't beat you anywhere," she said, shaking her head. I smiled.

"I'm Fast and Furious baby. You can't touch this," I said with my arms spread. I was tempted to start doing the Hammer Time, but she probably wouldn't get the reference. But she still laughed at my antics nonetheless.

We walked inside of the tower and it took Yumi and the other two a few seconds to get here. I pretended to yawn once they got inside.

"What took you so long? The both of us were just about to fall asleep waiting for you," I said before my fake tired look turned into a teasing look.

"We get it. You're faster than our vehicles. No need to rub it in," Odd said.

"Says every slow person ever," I teased.

"Now I'm tempted to punch you," Yumi said. I still had a grin on my face.

"It won't hurt very much on Lyoko and I've taken lasers to my kneecaps and face. Go ahead if it makes you feel better," I said.

"How about you all stop acting like clowns so I can get you back here?" Jeremy interjected.

"That works too," I said, before noticing something. "Uh, there are only three scanners. You plan on two of us coming back in the scanner at the same time?"

"Well, two people are going to have to wait," Yumi said. I immediately turned to the other two boys.

"Odd? Ulrich?" I said.

"Wait, why do we have to go out?" Odd questioned. "This is an outrage! I demand to see a lawyer!"

"I won the race, and ladies first," I said, gesturing to Aelita and Yumi. "Wait outside." Odd found that he had no retort to that and walked out of the tower. And Ulrich didn't really care. But I had to hold back a laugh at how defeated Odd looked. It just looked so... ridiculous! But before I knew it, I felt myself being devirtualized back to the human world.

"If XANA's gonna start programming new monsters, it means our troubles guys have only just begun," Jeremy said, leaning on his chair with his fist under his cheek.

"One thing is for sure Einstein. You're gonna have to program our vehicles faster. That way we can have an easier time against those Tarantulas!" Odd exclaimed. I shook my head as I was leaned on the wall. I really wasn't even involved in this conversation.

"Your aunt what?" Yumi asked.

"Tarantulas. The new monsters. I like to give my enemies a name," Odd said.

"What worries me is that our friend XANA obviously found a way to increase his power," Jeremy said. I started gnawing on the side of my mouth in slight nervousness from that statement, but I kept my cool. I didn't really have any proof that it was true yet, so I had to be sure.

"You think he's still evolving?" Ulrich said.

"Maybe so. In any case, from now own, we have to be ready for anything and everything," Jeremy told us.

"XANA's what you call a learning AI," I said, getting off the wall to walk in the center of the group. "At times, you don't really defeat him. You teach him. He's trying different things. Learning. Adapting. And the more he does it, the more dangerous and elaborate his plans become."

"That makes a lot of sense," Jeremy said, his index finger and thumb under his chin in thought.

"I'd better get back to Lyoko. If XANA activates a tower, I'd better be there," Aelita said. I looked at Jeremy strangely.

"How about you tell her the 'surprise' that you mentioned. I'm sure we'll be really surprised as to what it is," I said in a teasing tone.

"Well, I wanted it to be a surprise!" Jeremy exclaimed defensively. I grinned.

"It's so easy to wind you up, isn't it?" I said, still grinning like an idiot. Jeremy looked slightly abashed for a minute before seemingly scolding himself on the inside for falling for my bait.

"Keep what a surprise? Can someone please tell me what's going on?" Aelita asked. I then gestured to Jeremy to start talking.

"Over the past few weeks, I've spent all of my time developing vehicles and trying to find out where XANA might be withholding your memory. And I've also perfected a whole new program for detecting activated towers," Jeremy explained.

"A Super Scanner. Much more accurate than the old one," Odd interjected.

"With instant detection. Meaning, you don't have to stay on Lyoko all the time!" Jeremy said in an excited tone. Aelita's expression immediately turned into one of surprise.

"So I'm gonna live..." she said, unable to finish her sentence. I immediately walked up next to her and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Here. With us. Deep breaths gurl. Deep ones," I told her. She then immediately looked up at me.

"How come they told you?" Aelita asked. I grinned at Jeremy while having my arm around her shoulder.

"Why don't you explain that one, Einstein?" I said with a cocky grin and my hand gestured towards him. "Cause the thing is, I forgot this was even a thing, so I would've been surprised as well." Jeremy looked slightly irritated, but he spoke up anyways.

"He figured us out. He knew I was acting weirder than normal, and so were Odd, Ulrich, and Yumi. He asked us why, but we said nothing. But what we don't know about him is that he is a master of snooping. He heard what we were saying when we even tried to double check that we were clear to discuss if everything had gone to plan. And he still slipped past us. And the most insulting thing is that we wouldn't have even known that he knew if he didn't confront us about it. He even had the nerve to do it after we had the conversation while you were in the same class," Jeremy explained, making me grin like a madman.

"What can I say? I'm a mean, green, stealthier than night machine. Well, even more so since I got the artificial ninja skills from Lyoko, but I was a good one before," I said before bowing. "I know, I know. You're impressed."

"More like irritated. It was supposed to be a surprise," Yumi said, crossing her arms.

"Yeah, well I like spoilers. Don't beat yourself up over it," I said, moving away from Aelita and patting Yumi on the head like a child who had done something commendable. She immediately twisted away from my pats, her cheeks red from embarrassment. I threw my head back and laughed. It was so fun messing with everyone. And so easy too. But Aelita still seemed to be in a shock from Jeremy's words.

"But... I... This is so wonderful! I can't believe it!" Aelita said with a wide smile.

"How about we stop wasting time and move into the dorms? Hmm?" I questioned.

"Good idea. We've wasted enough time," Jeremy said.

* * *

"And this is your room," Jim said, showing Aelita her room. I had my bag with me as I was moving into a dorm too. But me and the others decided to be with Aelita when her new room was presented to her.

"It's not very big, but you'll like it here Ms. um..."

"Stones. Aelita Stones. Like the rock group," Aelita said, making me grin at the reference to the Rolling Stones. "I'm Odd's cousin from Canada."

"So is this your brother?" Jim asked, pointing to me.

"Nope. One of Jeremy's pen pals. As for my parents well... I'd not talk about that," I said, restraining myself from smiling at Jim's favorite phrase. The best part is that it wasn't even intentional. (No, really. It wasn't. lol. Too convenient)

"I see. Well Aelita, breakfast starts at seven AM, and dinner's at seven PM. It's against the rules to be in your room between eight AM and four thirty PM. You can ask your friends Della-Robbia, Stern, and Belpois to fill you in on the rest of the rules. That is, if they can remember them!" Jim exclaimed, turning towards the three of them. Then he turned to me. "I trust you caught all of that so I don't have to explain it again?"

"Loud and clear," I said, giving him my signature two fingered salute. He nodded in satisfaction.

"Good. Now, if you'll follow me, I'll show you to your room," Jim said, walking out of her room and down the hall. I turned to Jeremy.

"You can help Aelita unpack her things. I don't need an escort," I said, twirling my bag with both straps in my grip.

"If you say so. But... I thought we were going for the brother-in-law angle here too?" Odd questioned.

"Just trust me on this," I told Odd. He nodded before walking in Aelita's room. I walked jogged to catch back up to Jim, who was looking behind him when I was doing so. He was probably just about to yell at me to catch up.

I was silent the whole time he was leading me, but he was the first to break the desired silence. At least, I was the one who desired it.

"So, uh... how did you meet Jeremy?" Jim asked me. I cleared my throat before answering.

"Through a trip him and his parents took down to the United States. It was a while since we've seen each other, but we've kept in contact through a ton of letters. Believe me, we've spent a lot of money on stamps keeping in contact. But I have to say this is much better than any letter," I explained to him.

"I'm sure. Well, I hope you enjoy your time here," Jim told me. I have to say, I'm glad he didn't do any more questioning. Personally, I really wanted to get to my dorm while keeping a nice silence to settle in my bones.

"Thank you for the words, but I know I'm going to enjoy it," I said before thinking, _"Well, other than XANA being a bitch, but everything has some type of consequence."_ But I saved having to talk more as we approached my room.

"This is your room. You heard everything that I said to Ms. Stones, so this is where I leave you. You can go ahead and unpack," Jim said, walking out of my dorm. I simply laid my bag next to my bed instead of unpacking cause I'm a lazy son of a bitch and decided to lie down on my bed with my right leg crossed over my left knee. Felt good to have my own space again.

Then I heard my door open, and I opened my eyes automatically. I saw that Jeremy had walked into my room.

"I see you're already getting settled in," Jeremy said, lightly kicking my unpacked bag. I grinned coyly.

"Well, I'm a lazy bastard. Takes me twenty years to do anything that isn't very appealing to me. Of course I'm exaggerating," I told Jeremy.

"Well, I would hope so. Cause with XANA, we don't have twenty years to spare," Jeremy said with a small grin.

"Yeah, I realize that. Anyway, where are the others?" I asked, sitting up to sit on my bed.

"Preparing for the field trip that we had just recently remembered," Jeremy said.

"Ah, field trips. The very thing most students love just to get out of school. And I'm one of those students. What's the trip all about?" I asked.

"We're going to make a bio-diversity scrapbook. Mrs. Hertz wants us to take pictures and to draw plants and flowers. That kind of thing. Since Sissi can get away with having three people in her group, I'm sure she won't mind if you get partnered with me and Aelita," Jeremy said, making me smile.

"Good. I don't think I could stand getting partnered with Nicolas or Herb. I think I'd probably end up breaking the neck of one of them. So thanks for having my back," I said gratefully.

"No problem. No come on. It shouldn't be long before we have to leave," Jeremy said. I stood up from off the bed and followed Jeremy out to the courtyard where a struggling Odd was trying to keep an erratic Kiwi in his bag.

"Uh! Kiwi! Stop wiggling around! Five minutes, and you can run around all you want to," Odd told his dog.

"Give him some incentive to want to calm down," I told Odd before noticing Aelita coming up to us. "Hello Lita."

"Hello everyone," she said.

"Is everything ok, Aelita? Are you all settled in?" Jeremy asked.

"Yes I am, and I love my room. Hey, what's this field trip everyone's talking about?" Aelita said.

"We're going to make a bio-diversity scrapbook. Mrs. Hertz wants us to take pictures and to draw plants and flowers. That kind of thing. You, me, and Robert are going to be working together," Jeremy said.

"Great," Aelita said before I noticed that Ulrich was walking up to us with holding a camera that was around his neck.

"Hey Odd. Almost ready to go?" he said, seemingly checking over the film in the camera.

"You aren't going to wait for Yumi?" Odd asked.

"She's got her own partner. Might as well see if I can squeeze any work out of you on this trip," Ulrich said with a good natured smile. I smiled. He seemed a little more detached from his attraction to Yumi. But who knows how long that would last.

"Hmm. You know how that goes, but you just might be surprised," Odd said grinning at his friend. I clapped my hands together loudly.

"Then lets get going," I said, following the class as we made our way to the woods we were taking notes on. Odd and Ulrich had quickly went ahead of us cause they wanted to get done faster than us for once, but the three of us would rather talk on the way rather than rush.

"Did you know that trees grow new branches from one year to the next according to an exponential ratio of one point six?" Jeremy asked us.

"One point six _eight_ to be exact. It's the golden ratio," me and Aelita said at the same time. We looked at each other and I grinned somewhat shyly before shrugging.

"Good timing, maybe?" I asked.

"Or maybe you aren't the only one who benefited from Lyoko's infinite knowledge," Jeremy said.

"That could also be it," I said, pointing at him.

"Do you think nature will base non-linear equations systems?" Aelita asked.

"Well, considering plants have a natural growth within themselves and non-linear equations are not directly proportional, it's highly unlikely," Jeremy said.

"Then again, plants have a number of factors that completely stop growth. And there's the fact that some plants reach maturity. It's likely that you'll be able to factor linear equation systems with plants still in growth and fully matured or defective plants with non-linear ones," I said, throwing my own two cents into the equation.

Then I smiled. I found it was so liberating to be a know it all. No wonder they kept blurting out answers in class. It was so fun. Granted, I was far from a dummy, but I wasn't this damn knowledgeable. But again, it was extremely satisfying.

"Can you believe those three? Misters and Missus Einstein," I heard Sissi say from behind me. Since I was unnatural flexible for a guy, I bent my back so my face was facing an upside down Sissi, but I was still walking.

"Aw. Are you upset that you can't follow along?" I said in a teasing tone. Granted in my dimension, I wouldn't have been able to follow along either, but at least I wouldn't act salty about it.

"In your dreams," Sissi said. I noticed that Herb looked a little pissed, but I was certainly not intimidated by this trio. I had stared into the heart of darkness and came back somewhat untouched. This was nothing I couldn't handle.

I simply smiled at her with more warmness than was natural before moving my head up and opting on walking backwards. My neck started to feel a little uncomfortable.

"You need to hit the textbooks more gurl. You know, smart people actually have the right to be narcissist. So do sexy people to an extent," I said, eyeing her deliberately. "You are neither, so what's your excuse?" Sissi seemed relatively speechless for a moment and I gave her a double thumbs up before turning back around and walking straight.

"Ouch," Jeremy said, not sounding sorry for her at all. I grinned.

"And that is how I handle people who talk more shit than they're worth. It's like a phrase I've heard: 'Don't write checks your ass can't cash.' That applies somewhat literally and figuratively," I said.

"I'm not even going to ask," Jeremy said, shaking his head.

"I think that's for the best. Now, we have a project to do. Let's get it done," I said. Both of my partners nodded and we went walking through the woods. It didn't takes us incredibly long to make decent drawings of the plants we needed. Thank God Jeremy and Aelita could draw, cause if they couldn't, we were all screwed. My drawing was as stylish as Herb's pimples.

"Are you sure there aren't any monsters in these woods?" Aelita asked for what seemed like the twentieth time.

"No. This isn't Lyoko. Unless XANA sends more of them, you don't have to worry about that," I assured her. "Dangerous animals, however, are a completely different story."

"Don't worry. There aren't really any dangerous animals here. Not if we stay within a certain section of the woods. As for the monsters however, they only exist in fairy tales and silly horror pictures that Odd likes. And Lyoko of course," Jeremy added as an afterthought.

"You don't like horror films?" Aelita asked.

"I find them inaccurate scientifically speaking," Jeremy said.

"That's because the purpose of a horror film isn't to be scientifically accurate. In my dimension, people make video games that are better horror than the movies," I said.

"They're that good?" Jeremy asked.

"Very. For example, one game that I've seen. It's called Outlast. You're a reporter who infiltrates an asylum to find out what the Murkoff Corporation, the corporation that owns the asylum, is up to. Because someone who worked at the corporation sent you a message that the company was up to no good. Illegal experimentations on the patients who resided there, abuses, things of the sort," I explained.

"Well this seems scientifically accurate so far, but where does the horror genre play in?" Jeremy asked.

"I'm getting to that. Once you get further inside, you discover the dead and mutilated bodies of Murkoff workers and mercenary soldiers. One of them impaled through a pike originating from his anus and the tip coming out of the side of his neck here," I said, pointing to said area. Aelita suddenly stopped and put her hands over her mouth. Her eyes were wide and her expression was truly horrified. I felt a little bad about it. I forget sometimes that you can't talk about things like this in a time that's not my own.

 _"If she found this bad, then I probably shouldn't mention the Nazi Holocaust,"_ I thought to myself before I spoke up. "I think I should stop here."

"Yeah, you really should," Jeremy said, looking a little pale himself. "Just how can you describe something like that so... casually?"

"Quite simply, I've grown used to the idea of horrible things. Unless it's happening right before my eyes, I don't think I'll actually feel horrified. Ever. Even then, my reaction will be pretty level. And if you thought the description was bad, you definitely don't want to see what it all looked like," I explained to them. "Anyway, I'm done with that since you both can't seem to handle it. Do you think we have enough drawings?"

"Yeah, we should have-" Jeremy cut himself off as he was groping in his bag. "Huh? Oh no! I don't believe it! I left my laptop in my room. What if XANA attacks?"

"Calm down. Just go get it. He's not active one hundred percent of the time. Plotting, maybe. But never active," I told Jeremy.

"He's right. We can just keep working. With the number of drawings we've done, we're sure to get the highest grade," Aelita assured him. I tilted my head at her right there. She look confident and self-assured. To be honest, it was really attractive on her.

I had to rub my face down to try and smother my embarrassment. I hoped I wasn't staring longer than I thought. Cause that would make hanging with Aelita a lot more awkward, and that I did not want.

Then I saw Jeremy running off in the other direction as I came back to the real world mentally. Maybe girls have a point when they say boys will be boys. Our thoughts usually ending up going in that direction at least once with female friends. Lyoko logic was seeping its way into my brain more and more, and I felt very philosophical. It was refreshing.

"You ok?" Aelita asked me.

"Fine. My thought process is just a little skewed, but I'm fine now," I said.

"Skewed how?" Aelita asked.

"This I'd rather keep to myself. Mainly to save myself some embarrassment," I said.

"Come on. I won't tell," Aelita said.

"I know. But it involves you," I said before grabbing the pad out of her hand as a distraction. "You figure we ought to get some more of these drawings done?"

"Yeah. Wouldn't hurt," Aelita said, before her voice turned teasing. "That is, if you're willing to draw."

"Hey! I told you. My drawing is atrocious. Odd could be even more dead-brained than he is now and still draw better than me," I told her. Aelita giggled.

"You're either giving Odd too much credit or you're not giving yourself enough," she said.

"I'm doing neither. But-"

 _"What have you done?! What have you done to my son?!"_ I suddenly clutched my head hard and felt myself run down to my knees.

"Robert?" Aelita said, but I could barely hear her.

 _"It is fine. We have it under control. You may wish to remain here while your son recovers."_

 _"Damn you!"_

 _"Sir, calm down. We will forcefully subdue you."_

 _"Yeah, I'm not surprised. After all, you can nearly kill a child and not feel a damn thing."_

 _"He is not dead. He is simply... drifting for a lack of a better term. Where, we don't know. But-"_

 _"This is my son!"_ Suddenly my head felt painful. Like it was about to crack open. Then the feeling spread to my entire body. Like I was being moved back and forth with two forces fighting for all of me. I felt to the ground and I suddenly started spasming with pain. My hands were halfway clenched as I tried to fight the pain. Then I could see that Aelita had started to run. Just started running as fast as she could. But I found solace from the pain in my unconscious state.

"Wake up! Wake up! Robert, this isn't funny!"

I suddenly opened my eyes like I was shocked out of my sleep. I wiped the cold sweat off my forehead and started mumbling, "Dad" unconsciously. There was no mistaking the voice that I heard yelling. But the second man I did not recognize.

"What is he saying?"

"I think he's saying dad."

"Dad? Why dad?"

"We don't have time! Jeremy needs our help with XANA now!"

"Well, we have to go find Aelita. Robert's in no fit state to try and even deactivate the tower." I then clenched my right hand tightly before slowly rising to my feet.

"I can... I can move. Where's Aelita?" I asked.

"We don't know. We thought she was with you," Ulrich said.

"She was, but... then she ran. But before then, I started hearing voices. Familiar voices and unknown voices. Voice that spoke about me. Beyond this world. I think my human body's still back in my dimension," I explained, finally piecing it together. The three of them gasped at my revelation. "We need to find Aelita."

"Do you have any idea where she would run to?" Yumi asked.

"Franz Hopper's old house. He owned it. It resides somewhere in the forest," I said before I could feel Kiwi sniffing on me. "Hey, what's he doing?"

"Smelling you. I think he's getting Aelita's scent off you," Odd said before raising an eyebrow. If I wasn't black, I'd likely be red as a tomato from his stare. "Care to explain that?"

"No," I said, standing up and looking at Kiwi. "Lead the way boy." Kiwi instantly started sniffing towards a direction, and we didn't hesitate in following him. I tried to stifle down my own concerns I had for my regular body still residing in my regular dimension to focus on the here and now, but it wasn't easy.

"You look on edge," Ulrich said.

"I am on edge. I just found out that my parents have just found out that my body is lying motionless on a bed somewhere in some government facility. Whatever the fuck they did to me is the reason that I'm here right now. No one else likely knows that I'm there. They'll probably threaten my family to lie to the rest of the world. Say that I'm dead when I'm really alive. All my friends, my family. My sisters, my cousins, my aunts will all think I'm dead with sandbags lying in the grave instead of my corpse," I explained with a hollow tone.

"They would do that?" Odd asked, his tone sounding horrifyingly serious.

"You know, I tried to imagine that the government isn't like the type you see on movies. But what happened to me is straight out of a movie. So yes. I do believe that they would do that. Ruin one person's life, ruin hundreds, they don't care. As long as they don't have to take responsibility for what happened to the people that suffered," I said, my tone bitter. "If I ever get the chance, I want to see them go down for this. Death, prison, I don't care. They're threatening my family, and if I ever go back, I will make them pay." This is the first time in my life where my tone held actual anger. I felt so furious, I was trembling. My hands were balled into fists and I could feel that my expression was contorted and twisted in a way that was unfamiliar to me. Yes. I feel as if I'm actually angry. It's so weird. And I feel empowered and completely engulfed by it.

"I don't necessarily say I blame you. But... I really don't want you to leave," Ulrich admitted. That softened the anger I felt and made me smile.

"Well, if previous experiences are anything to judge, then it won't last forever. But... I'm so torn. I want to stay, but I feel as if I can't let this slide. If this is happening to other people..."

"We understand. Just don't forget that we're with you. No matter what," Yumi said. I bit my lip. That just made it even harder to choose. But I had a feeling that my decision was going to be made for me in some type of way, which was somewhat comforting. But I never really saw myself growing attached to everyone more personally than I ever imagined. It was weird, scary, and plain unnerving.

"Where's Jeremy?" I asked.

"At the factory waiting for us already. I'm gonna call him. Telling him we ran into problems," Odd said as we approached the mansion.

"No need. This is the place," I said, hopping over the fence and running in the mansion. I could hear the others call after me, but I paid them no mind as I ran inside. But I could hear the door snap shut behind me.

"You don't scare me XANA. Aelita?" I yelled before I noticed a desk was propelling itself at top speed towards me. I immediately jumped high in the air to avoid it and manage to clear it, the entire desk smashing into pieces when it made impact with the door. "This is not Final Destination. It's not mine at least."

I turned around and saw that there were two options. Up or down. I remember getting trapped in a boiler, or at least Ulrich and Yumi did, so down wasn't the smartest option. But I knew for a fact that's where she was. So I went down there anyway.

Didn't take me long to find her unconscious body. I instantly ran over to her and threw her out of the door as fast as I could. I ran to the door to quickly get out, but I was too late as the door quickly closed on me and trapped me inside.

"Fucking hell, why me?" I said as I pounded on the door frantically, but it was solid steel. No way I was gonna get through it. Maybe if I had my swords instead of my Kung Fu Fury power.

"Robert!" Aelita exclaimed through the door.

"Don't worry about me. Find a way out of here and get to the others outside. They're waiting for you. GO!" I yelled at her hesitancy. She started running off in the other direction and I started removing my jacket and shirt, already knowing what he had in store for me.

"Fine. You want me to burn to death, you sadistic son of a bitch?" I said as the temperature of the boiler began to rise. "I never liked the cold anyway." I stripped off every part of my clothing because there was no point in leaving anything on. No one was here anyway. Even if they were, I want to last longer in case things turn out different. Modesty be damned.

I could feel the temperature began to slowly rise, but I hadn't even broken a sweat yet. Unfortunately for him, I'm in my element when it comes to the heat. I can stand in the summer time with two jackets on and barely sweat. This would not be a problem in the slightest. (No, seriously. I do this shit. People actually ask what's wrong with me when I do that shit. I just respond, 'Cause I'm not hot.' Weird, but that's how I work)

I was tempted to start talking shit, but I'm pretty sure that it would end up with XANA just increasing the temperature faster. So I was patient and just let him try to kill me at his own pace. I had no problem with how slow this felt.

Then I felt the heat start to get to me. I had finally started to sweat, and I was starting to feel tired, but I didn't feel hot to the point where I felt like I was going to pass out. I blinked rapidly a few times while I was panting, but I was still holding out.

"My pores... feel great XANA. Thanks," I said with a grin, seemingly unable to stop myself from talking shit. I'm playing with death and I'm talking shit. Man, even Lyoko's infinite knowledge can't stop me from being a dumbass.

My statement did the trick, and the temperature quickly started escalating faster. Now I was sweating more than I ever remembered sweating. To the point where the sweat made my skin feel like melted chocolate. But that barely lasted long before white engulfed my vision and I was back with Jeremy and Aelita in the middle of the forest. But the change was so suddenly from heat to cold, that I ended up shivering from the sudden change.

"Hey, you alright?" Jeremy asked me.

"XANA trapped him in a boiler room. The temperature must've been awful," Aelita said.

"The most I got was intense sweating. Black people were made to take the heat. I'm easily the most capable for that climate," I said, waving a dismissive hand. "Enough of that. Our drawings are finished, aren't they? Well, your drawings and my pictures." Aelita and Jeremy both grinned and my rephrase of the situation.

"Yes, they are. We can head back to the school now," Jeremy said.

"Then lead the way Einstein," I said, putting my arms around Jeremy's and Aelita's shoulders as we walked back to the school. But my smile quickly disappeared when I thought about my parents all over again. I knew that my world would come back to affect me later on. But nothing I could do about it right now.


	10. Chapter 10 - Stress is a Bitch

Episode References: Uncharted Territory

* * *

"Nothing like a hot shower to start the day," I said as I exited the shower with a towel around my waist. _"Even though I barely slept..."_ I thought after I said that.

"Amazing. On Lyoko, you looked almost as skinny as Odd. Now you look like you as if you have a bit of muscle on you," Ulrich said, causing me to look down at my arms. They didn't feel any different, but I did see that they were slightly thicker. I smiled. That was a good sight to see.

"It's that all that side training and exercising I've been doing with you and Yumi. You're a pretty damn good fighter. So is Yumi," I complimented him.

"Yeah, but Lyoko makes you better," Ulrich commented.

"I'm even better with a sword. My advantage is very much unfair, but an advantage nonetheless. If I didn't have that ability, you'd kick my ass," I said grinning. "I'm going to head back to my dorm though. Shower's all yours, Ulrich."

"Thanks. I'll see you at breakfast," Ulrich said.

"Save me some eggs!" Odd exclaimed from in the shower.

"I don't even think anyone has enough eggs for you," I said with a grin.

"Ha ha. Very funny," Odd said as Ulrich began to laugh. I was grinning as I walked out the door and I was humming the Clair De Lune to myself. My tastes in music were definitely questionable by some people, but I didn't have a fuck to give as far as that goes.

"Hello Robert," Aelita suddenly said, making me jump hard. I nearly lost my grip on the towel on my waist from that. I felt embarrassed for a moment before I realized why she was up here.

"Sissi told you that there are free showers up here, aren't there?" I questioned, reinforcing the grip of my towel on me.

"Yeah, and there are," Aelita said, confirming my suspicions. I sighed.

"Yeah, but they're for boys. I know the line is long, but be patient. I'm also going to give you some advice. If Sissi tells you to do something or gives you advice of any kind, ninety point ninety nine times out of ten, she's going to be lying to you," I told her.

"Well, how do I know if she's telling the truth?" Aelita asked.

"Come see one of us to validate it. We'll confirm it or bust it. Now go on," I told Aelita gently. She moved in for a hug, but I backed away and gestured to my body.

"I don't want to get you all wet. Save the hug for when we get down to breakfast. And both fully clothed," I told her. She nodded.

"Thank you for telling me," Aelita said, heading back down the stairs. I smiled and waved at her.

"No problem," I said before heading towards my own dorm. But I stopped at the sound of a voice I didn't want to hear.

"You must think you're such a Prince Charming, huh?" Sissi asked said with Nicholas and Herb at her belt.

"No, but I think myself a gentleman to pleasant people. And you are not one of them, so kindness isn't something I have reserved for you, dog. I need to get dressed and get to breakfast," I said, my tone impatient.

"You must think you're so cool, huh?" Herb suddenly spoke up. I raised an eyebrow at the kid, but I didn't even bother to comment as I walked away from them without a word. But then I stopped and turned around to face Sissi.

"Know this - If you tell Aelita some bullshit lie again, I will personally see to it that you will regret it. And you do not want that. Good day Ms. Ape Face," I said with the most emotionless expression and tone that I never thought I had before walking in my room. I immediately made to get dressed and was out of my dorm in minutes. I still didn't unpack my bag, but I would get to it when I felt like it. Which was going to be only God knows when. But I was hungry and breakfast awaited me, so the bag was immediately pushed out of my mind.

Several class periods passed by not mind numbingly slow like usual, but actually averaged paced. Considering keeping up with the course work was easy peasy and the jokes Odd cracked during half of the class made them considerably fun. It's so weird. In this dimension, I feel more alive than I ever have in my own. Maybe it's because I'm connected to the world through my friends, not technology.

"So no doubt that the Franz Hopper the science teacher and owner of the Hermitage are the very Franz Hopper you mentioned? The creator of Lyoko?" Yumi asked.

"No doubt about it. It's definitely him," I said.

"Well, I'd definitely be more interested to find out more about him. After History class, we have a study period. What do you say we do a little research?" Jeremy asked.

"I'll come with," Aelita said.

"I don't think that's a good idea," Jeremy said, Aelita's expression immediately becoming shocked. "We don't want Jim catch you snooping around the archives. It could mean trouble."

"Yeah, but this is her father, Jeremy. She wants to know more about him. Plus how is she going to learn how to snoop if you don't give her the chance?" I questioned. Aelita's expression turned relieved and I got a raised eyebrow from Odd. I simply raised an eyebrow as well and stared back.

"It's too risky. Students aren't allowed in the archives, and there could be some serious consequences involved if you get caught. Trust me on this," Jeremy said.

"That doesn't change the fact that she has to learn sometime. No time like the present," I said. The rational side, what I like to call the Lyoko side of my brain told me that it made sense. That she wouldn't get in trouble if they were discovered. But my mouth and my irrational part of my brain said otherwise. It said that this wasn't fair to her to find more things about her father. Ugh, I hated the way my mind worked sometimes.

 _"Yeah. Right now, someone else is putting it to work,"_ I thought. I clenched the veins in my forehead. See, that's the kind of stuff that I want to forget. But I couldn't, thanks to my brain's weird psychology.

"It's alright. It's better that I wait here," Aelita said. She wasn't lying when she said that, but I could tell she was disappointed and that she didn't half believe it herself. And that upset me. More than I'd care to admit.

"I'm sorry, but it's better that way. We'll see you in the cafeteria," Jeremy said, walking away with Ulrich and Odd. I could see that Aelita's expression was kind of zoned out. She seemed distracted beyond belief.

"Are you ok Aelita?" I asked, beating Yumi to the punch.

"I... can't get used to living here. I had another nightmare last night, the same one," Aelita said.

"Nightmares eventually fade. But in your case, they actually mean something. Try to figure out what that message is," I told her before frowning. "I'll meet you both at lunch in a second. I'll be there soon."

"Normally you're the first one there. And that's saying something considering we have Odd," Yumi said with a smile. I didn't even flash her a grin before walking away. I had just gotten out of their sight before trying to calm my stress levels. I could feel them slowly rising at this point.

Sleep was already scarce after finding out what my actual situation was. How I even ended up in the Lyoko universe. Where my real body was. My headache wasn't letting up even in the slightest, and I was about sick of this shit. The worst part was pretending that everything was alright. I wasn't much of a sharer. I usually didn't tell my family or my friends even the tiniest of problems, and this was no different. It may have been a good idea to rethink that soon cause I actually had a reason to do so now.

I walked back to the cafeteria, trying restrain myself from continuously clutching my head out of stress. Seriously, today I felt like walking around with a hot towel on my head all day. I heard of people getting headaches from stress, but this shit was ridiculous.

I immediately walked into the line behind Aelita, who had just recently gotten in line. I could hear the people that I jumped in front of complaining, but the idea of a fuck given is just not known to me right now. I did the same thing at my school. Why should I stop doing it now?

I tapped her on her shoulder and gave her the best reassuring smile I could manage under this headache. She tilted her head and gave me a strange look.

"Is there something on my face?" I said, still maintaining my smile. She shook her head and turned away.

"No, there isn't," she said. I waited patiently as she looked at the things that were on the table.

"Hey! What are you waiting for?" the boy behind me said to Aelita. I frowned. I immediately knew where this was going, and I was not happy with it.

"How about you wait your turn?" I questioned, my tone irritated. With the headache I had, it was extremely easy to get worked up. I was not in the mood for this shit. And he could've easily retorted that I wasn't taking my turn. For whatever reason, he didn't.

But Aelita continued forward down the line as she had no interest in the stuff that was on the plates. Neither did I after an examination of it. It was probably good, but I would pass. I'd take the food that was promised from the lunch lady, thank you very much.

"Well sweetie, franks and beans or steak and potatoes?" the lunch lady asked Aelita kindly. She looked towards me and I mouthed 'Steak and potatoes.' She turned around with a smile now on her face, but before she even got the chance to speak, people from behind me continued to speak up.

"Come on!"

"Hurry up!"

"I'm starving over here!" At the last voice, I just completely lost all patience. I snapped behind with an angry expression on my face, my stressful headache replaced with an angry pounding and boiling blood.

"Unless you haven't eaten in days, then shut the hell up. You will eat. The food is not going anywhere. Stop being whiny little jackasses," I growled. I didn't even give anyone time to speak before continuing in my tirade. "Say one more thing smart. I dare you. I will bash your face through that glass window. Do you want to try my patience more?" Normally I said things like that to come off as tough. Now I was so irritated and angry, that I felt like I might actually do it if I was pushed further.

The kids seemed taken aback by my anger and they seemed to pick up that my threat was genuine. When they realized that, they shut up real quick. I turned back to Aelita and kindly gestured for her to get her food. She asked for the steak and potatoes, and I quickly moved after her to request the same thing. The lunch lady eyed my oddly as I got my food, but again. The boiling in my blood and the headache that was kicking my ass didn't really make me doing much more than acknowledge it.

When I finally got my food, I moved along to see that Aelita was just standing out of the line, holding her food. I felt a familiar pang of pity in my stomach. I remember those days in school. When you don't know anyone and you just have to sit alone. That wouldn't be the case today.

I walked up from behind her and put my hand on her shoulder while holding my tray with my other hand.

"I sincerely hope you haven't forgotten about me, have you?" I said with a smile. Aelita smiled back at me and she shook her head.

"Yumi's gone over there to sit with William. Should we go join them?" she asked.

"Nah. Let em talk. Besides, been a while since you and me have had a little one on one time. I miss those times," I said, leading us over to an empty table. I sat directly next to her rather than in front of her and began to eat.

"Thanks... for what happened in the line. I'm just..."

"Nervous about being the new kid. We've all gone through it. Trust me. It gets easier once you have friends. And you learn not to care anymore. Especially with one of my friends," I said with a reminiscent look on my face.

"Enlighten me," Aelita said, more interested in my story than her food. I smiled.

"His name was Nathan. To put it quite simply, he's the only person I know who doesn't care about anything. Rules, regulations, fuck it. If he doesn't know you, he doesn't give a fuck about you. That doesn't mean he'll be rude to you, but he'll say whatever the fuck he wants to say, whenever he wants to say it, and doesn't care about the consequences. If there are any," I explained.

"Sounds like you in a way," Aelita said. I snorted.

"No, he's me times ten. You haven't seen anything until you've met him. Trust me, he carries Hell in a hand-basket. When he goes places, crazy stuff seems to follow. Trust me, I've heard the stories. They're not pretty for the most part," I said, dipping a piece of steak in the potatoes and taking a bite out of it.

"How so?"

"Well, him and his brother got attacked by a swarm of crows when they tried to chase them off with BB guns. It was not pretty," I said, me and Aelita chuckling at the memory. I was getting so into this that my headache seemed to be gone and so did my anger at the kids.

"That definitely doesn't sound pretty. How'd they end up getting rid of them?" she asked.

"They didn't. They're still there." Aelita's eyes widened and I grinned deviously. "I'm kidding. I think I'd move if I had swarms of crows in my neighborhood. But all they had to do was build a scarecrow." I held my arms at my side with an obvious look on my face and Aelita face palmed. Then she started laughing. Not a giggle or a small chuckle, but the type of laugh where you just throw your head back and let all of your problems out.

"Enjoying yourself?" I said with a pleased smile.

"Very. You know, I have to admit something. I was thinking about going back to Lyoko," Aelita said. I dug in my potatoes and took a bite before facing her again.

"Yeah, I knew that. But now?" I said with a raised eyebrow.

"I think I want to stay just to hear more of the stories," Aelita said with a smile.

"There are a lot of them. Believe you me. There are probably a lot more than what he told me, but the ones I know are still entertaining. But if I go back, I think I'll have a better story. After all, I am living in a world that's not real there, but now real to me," I said with a wide smile.

"They probably won't believe you," Aelita said logically.

"I'll have proof. Cause I'll conquer one of my biggest irritations - taking a picture," I said, sighing overdramatically. Aelita smiled.

"Wow. Pictures. That's a big step," she said idly. But I could tell that she was subtly teasing me. I grinned. She was coming a long way in the joking department.

"But I am prepared for it. Think I should go for a group picture?" I asked.

"It's your best chance. Just don't forget about us," Aelita said.

"How could I forget any of you? Especially you? You're one of the purest things in this existence. And I love that about you," I said genuinely. I could see her faintly blush at my words, and I figured that I may be getting carried away. Perhaps my words were a little too suggestive. Didn't really feel like it to me. It felt like just an average compliment.

"Too much?" I asked.

"Not at all. I just wasn't expecting that," Aelita said.

"It's just me being nice. If I say the exact words, 'I love you,' then you should be more concerned," I said, shrugging and going back to my food that I had seemingly ignored most of this conversation.

"You may call it nice, I call it flirting," Sissi said, walking up to us. "After all, that is fitting for two Einsteins, is it not?"

"In case you haven't realized already, I don't care about anything you have to say, so why should I start now?" I said, leaning back in my chair and crossing my arms.

"Just some friendly advice," Sissi said.

"Well, you can take your advice and stuff it. This is not the exaggeration you put on my words and nor will I take it as such," I said, my tone starting to get impatient.

"Well, tell that to the new girl who seems to be latched on to your arm like a pathetic leech," Sissi said, making me instantly rise to my feet slam my hands on the table hard enough to shake it.

"Walk away from here now," I said, my tone low and angry. Now my stressful headache was back. Goddammit. Right as it started to fade too.

Sissi simply smirked at me before walking away. I clutched my head and Aelita tapped on my shoulder.

"I don't feel comfortable being here. Maybe it was a mistake coming here. Things were much simpler on Lyoko," Aelita said.

"Yeah, but they weren't as wonderful as feeling what you feel here. Are you sure you want to give that up?" I asked her.

"I dunno, but I want to be sure. Will you come with me to Lyoko?" Aelita asked. I nodded.

"Sure thing. At least you're not going alone this time. But I'll set a timer on how long until we're virtualized back. That way we won't miss our next class," I said, making her nod. "I'll tell Yumi where we're going and then we'll head out." I stood up and dumped both of our trays before walking over to Yumi.

"Who are you?" William asked me.

"No one of importance to you right now," I said to him before lowering myself down into Yumi's ear. "Aelita and me will be down at the factory if the others ask for us." She nodded and I gave William a two fingered salute before jogging to catch up with Aelita, who was waiting by the door.

"Glad to see you didn't run off," I said.

"Well, I suppose I have you to thank for that. You're awfully good at convincing people," Aelita said.

"Here, that's true. Not so much in my dimension cause people are a lot more stubborn, therefore, a lot harder to convince. But I'd definitely go with you before I'd let you go alone," I told her. She smiled.

"Thanks. That's reassuring," Aelita said. We made it to the factory at now time at all, and I set up the designated timers for our virtualization and our return trip.

"We've only got about ten minutes. That's about all I can give you before we have to make it back to class. Even then, we have to run so we won't be late," I said as I climbed down the ladder in here that lead to the Supercomputer, Aelita not far behind me.

"Well, you'll just carry me on your back like always. Even when not only Lyoko, you're still pretty fast," Aelita said.

"Yeah, but your weight weighs on me a lot more here than on Lyoko. But I'll try to oblige you," I told her. We stepped in the scanners and it didn't take long for us to get virtualized straight into the forest region.

"The real world is better, but this place is numb. Which is kind of how I want to feel right now," Aelita said.

"Don't feel numb. I don't like a numb Princess. That eventually makes a bitter one, and bitter does not look good on you," I said, gesturing at her entire body to emphasize my point.

"Well, we have sweet people that can counter my bitterness. That only makes some of the most delicious sweets," Aelita said with a smile.

"Your first pun. And it's a decent one. That's more than I can say for Odd," I said, the both of us laughing at my joke. We both knew that the blond makes some terrible puns. Just about all of the time. But they were so bad, they were good.

Force Sense suddenly triggered and I drew my blade before instantly sidestepping in front of Aelita and deflecting the laser coming at her.

"Yeah, I see you bitch," I said. Aelita quickly raised her right hand and balled it into a fist. Before I knew it, solid rock walls quickly closed in around the block that ambushed us and destroyed it instantly. I looked at her with a surprised look.

"New trick?" I asked.

"More like a different, more aggressive use of it. You're the one who suggested it to me, remember?" Aelita questioned, raising an eyebrow at me. I shook my head.

"Yeah, but I didn't expect you to actually use it," I said honestly. She put her hand over her heart as if she was offended.

"Why, you wound me," Aelita said, batting her eyelashes innocently before it turned into a grin. I started chuckling and shook my head.

"Dear God, forgive me. I have corrupted one of Your own," I said, placing my hand on top of her head. She shook it off with a playful smile on her face.

"What do you mean one of His own?" Aelita asked me.

"Cause you're an angel," I said with an even tone. I could see her look away from me a little bit, and I grinned. I think the casual tone I used with some of my statements gave it a bigger impact. God, I loved doing that to people. Well, when I could pull it off.

Then I could feel us starting to be virtualized back to the real world. That quickly let us know our ten minutes were up. We met in the center of the scanners and Aelita hugged me.

"Thanks for coming with me. I know that trip was dumb and pretty pointless, but..."

"You don't have to explain anything would only prove to me. I may not understand, but I'm with you," I assured her. She stood on the tips of her toes and gave me a kiss on the cheek, making me go from understanding to embarrassed in less than a second flat. That's a record if I ever heard one. Then I didn't even notice that she jumped on my back and my knees almost gave out on me from the unexpected weight.

"Now come on! We got a class to get to!" Aelita exclaimed. I shook my head and grinned before walking in the elevator and hitting the button to call it. It didn't take long to arrive and I ran us all the way back to the school, much to my exhaustion.

I set her down outside of the building and told her she had to run at least _some_ of the way. She simply shrugged and we sprinted down the hallway, just about all the energy I had. We dashed quickly in the open door right as the bell rung. I held up my index fingers to signal for them to give me a moment while I was panting heavily, my hands on my knees and my face directly facing the ground.

"I think... I happened to time that just right," I breathed out, rising from the ground and stretching out my back. I coughed and I was tempted to spit out the gigantic spit buildup that was rising in my throat, but I swallowed it rather than spitting it on the floor.

When I glanced around the entire class, I saw that the entire class was staring at us. Aelita turned slightly red, but I didn't care about the stares as I went towards the two empty chairs and sat down in my respective one.

"I'd say your timing your is very much right as you are not late. Now please take a seat Mr. Morgan and Ms. Stones. From whatever you two may have been doing," Mrs. Hertz said. My cheeks burned slightly at that statement, but for the most part, I was able to keep my stare forward and my face unemotional. Even though I was tired as all living shit.

"Where'd you two go?" Odd whispered as Mrs. Hertz turned around to write something on the board.

"To the factory," I whispered back.

"Without Jeremy? What'd you do?" Odd asked.

"Spent a little time on Lyoko. Aelita's starting to gain a more flexible control over her powers," I said proudly.

"So... you weren't making out like monkeys?" Odd asked with a grin. My cheeks burned, but I answered calmly. Answering indignantly would only seem like Odd guessed right.

"No. We weren't," I said calmly. "Get your head out of the gutter."

"Morgan! Della-Robbia! Pay attention!" Mrs. Hertz exclaimed.

"Yes ma'am," I said, instantly looking forward. But I couldn't help but note a weird feeling in my stomach. Some kind of apprehension that I couldn't shake. And I hoped I was wrong, even though I likely wasn't. Wait, nope. That was just hunger.

"My stomach feels weird. Kinda painful," Aelita said as we walked out of the classroom when the bell rang.

"That's cause we skipped lunch silly. Remember? Cause you wanted to play around in Lyoko for a moment?" I told her, the both of us giggling. It was weird feeling this giggly. Even my face felt flustered from it.

"You skipped lunch?" Jeremy asked from behind us. I turned around to face him.

"You would've known if you had shown up like you said you were," I told Jeremy with a pointed look. Jeremy looked slightly guilty at my look. I sighed before turning to Aelita.

"Could you wait for me outside please? I need to talk to Jeremy for a moment," I asked her. She nodded and waved before walking outside without a problem. I then turned back to the genius and gestured for him to come over to the side.

"What you fail to realize about Aelita is that you can't just leave her like you did. Yumi was occupied with William, and she figured she had no one to sit with. I'm speaking in canon terms, not these terms," I said before Jeremy could answer. "What you have to realize is that Aelita may be smart, but she's very sensitive. It hasn't really been exposed to the world, so her emotions are pretty child-like. They can drop and rise at the drop of a dime. If I wasn't here, she would've been driven to Lyoko alone. You get her back like you always do, but this needs to be addressed."

"I... I never thought..."

"Of course you didn't. Cause you overlooked it. But this is why I am here. To help you out. But it's alright. I don't think she really thought about it like that. This gives you a chance to make sure this doesn't happen again. Cause I care about Aelita too if you haven't noticed," I explained.

"Yeah, I see. But how did you get back without anyone to write the dematerialization program for Aelita?" Jeremy asked.

"I installed the program on a timer. That way we were both transferred back the real world after it ran out. Nice, huh?" I asked with a smile.

"Very. Did you make the program on the Supercomputer when you had the time?" Jeremy asked.

"Nope. Rather I just linked to the program to the timer materialization program and behold - the dematerialization timer. Having Lyoko knowledge just gives you a feeling when this stuff works," I told Jeremy. He looked at me with a shocked look and I smiled before giving him my two fingered salute.

"Never underestimate me," I said before walking back inside, my grin still plastered on my face.

"Did you have a nice talk?" Aelita asked me.

"Yes. Yes, I believe we did," I said before the others quickly caught up to the two of us.

"You're not normally the first ones out of the class," Ulrich said.

"Yeah, well, things change," Aelita said with a bright smile on her face.

"Well you two seem close," Odd noted.

"We are. In case you haven't noticed. Are we gonna head to our next class or are we going to head to our next class?" I asked.

"Well, I would rather-"

"Let's head to class," Ulrich instantly cut Odd off, knowing what his answer was going to be. The whole group laughed and Odd simply shook his head as we walked to our next class.


	11. Chapter 11 - Sector Five

Episode References: Exploration

* * *

"Your parents simply follow you to school? Hmm. Lucky," I said as I leaned on the wall. Jeremy had recently discovered the passageway to Sector Five and we were officially ready to start exploring the place. But Yumi's late night arrivals were causing problems with her parents. Therefore, it was going to cause problems with us.

"That's not lucky. That's terrible. It's embarrassing," Yumi said.

"Better than getting your ass whooped. Cause that's what would've happened to me if I had tried something like that on my parents," I said.

"Your parents believed in corporal punishment?" Jeremy asked.

"Yes they do. And so do I. Trust me, it can be a very effective tool in getting kids to behave," I said.

"That's a very barbaric way of disciplining your kids," Jeremy said.

"Barbaric or no, it works. That's how I was raised," I said.

"Can we get off the subject of punishment and move on to how we're going to solve this situation with my parents?" Yumi asked.

"You're going to have to earn their trust back in you. I think it may be best if you stay away from Lyoko for a little while," Jeremy said.

"Huh? What about exploring Sector Five? That's for tonight, isn't it?" Yumi questioned indignantly.

"Don't worry. Jeremy will give you a play by play update," Ulrich said.

"Promise," Jeremy confirmed. Then the bell rang and I sighed as I dreaded being in Mrs. Hertz's stuffy room.

"Come on guys. I know you're all dying to go to Mrs. Hertz's class. Off we go," Odd said in a slow drawl.

"Did you study for the marine biology test?" Jeremy asked him.

"I can answer that question for you. No," I said, giving Odd a knowing look who gave me an offended one in return.

"Stop doubting me. Of course I did," Odd said, making me raise an eyebrow. This oughta be good. "Fish are remarkably adapted to water. What's more they can swim." I groaned loudly and face palmed so hard at that statement.

"You are so lame," Jeremy said, making us all laugh. The way he said it made it ten times funnier.

We all eventually met up at the factory late at night for the Sector Five exploration, and we were ready to start exploring. Ah, Lyoko would just never get old in my eyes.

"No monsters? Shame. I could use some stuff to stab," I said when I landed on the ground.

"They're probably resting. They need it after all the grief we've been giving them," Odd said.

 _"You have to get to the other end of the sector to take the transporter. I'm going to materialize your rides,"_ Jeremy said. Aelita immediately hopped on my back and I waited for Ulrich and Odd to get their rides. They've been wanting that rematch for the longest.

"You're not going to beat me. I just hope you know that," I said with confidence.

"This time, one of us will get you. Aelita's bound to slow you down enough," Ulrich said.

"Do you want me to ride with one of the others?" Aelita asked.

"Hey! That's an unfair advantage princess!" Odd exclaimed.

"And me on his back isn't unfair?" Aelita questioned.

"Well, his running and jumping got better, so he needs to be toned down a bit," Odd said.

"You want to nerf me? Fair enough. Don't worry about it Aelita. I'll still be able to leave these suckas in the dust," I said cockily before cracking my neck from side to side.

"Let's see if you think that way when you're eating my dust," Odd said, immediately taking off towards the edge of the sector. I immediately put my Force Sprint into motion and started running off towards the edge of the sector.

Odd had a decent length ahead of me and Ulrich was lined up with me. I half wanted to jump in between the trees to get ahead, but I couldn't really do it with Aelita on my back. I would just have to pull ahead.

"Now who's eating whose dust?" Odd taunted as he looked back. I gritted my teeth while amping up the rate of my running and I gained a little distance, but it wasn't enough to overtake him. Ulrich was starting to get close to me as well. Even though I didn't notice it, Aelita really did slow me down. We ended the race with Ulrich overtaking Odd and me and Odd managing to tie.

"Well, I'd rather eat your dust than his," I said once we reached the edge of the Sector.

"But where's all that talk about me eating your dust now?" Odd said with a smirk.

"You tied with me while we both ate Ulrich's dust. You are not in a position to talk much smack now," I told Odd.

"I'm just happy that I actually managed to beat you in a race. Now if only I could do it when Aelita isn't on your back," Ulrich said.

"I'm afraid that'll never happen," Aelita said with a small smirk. I smiled. She had already said it for me.

"We'll see princess," Ulrich said with a smirk.

 _"Alright, I'm entering the code you mentioned. Scipio,"_ Jeremy said. In no time at all, the familiar white ball with the Lyoko symbol on it picked us up. Then we started moving at a rapid pace through beyond the platforms of the sector and we started getting right into Lyoko itself. Then it was over and we were in Sector Five.

"Be warned. When we get inside, there's a timer that immediately activates. If we don't find the switch and hit it before time runs out, everything closes off and we won't be able to get in. And XANA's monsters will not make it easy for us," I told them.

"Got it," Ulrich said. The door opened after a while and we immediately took off running. Then when we started looking around, but everything was not immediately apparent. Sector Five was a tricky place to be in.

 _"Watch out. You've got two Creepers on your tail,"_ Jeremy said, immediately making me draw both of my blades.

"Keep searching. I'll get these things off us," I said. There was no argument as the three of them nodded and continued. As soon as the first monster's head came around the corner, I immediately stabbed it and kicked it so the explosion wouldn't touch me. The second Creeper was still moving around and immediately started firing me upon contact.

I put both of my blades together and started spinning them like a fan to deflect its shots. At one point, I tossed both of my blades at its torso and did a backflip to avoid its next few shots. But my blades had severed it through its torso and it exploded soon after. I held my hands out, and my blades immediately came from around the corner into my hand.

"Ha! Slimy bitches," I said before holstering my swords, turning around, and started running back to where I saw Aelita and the others were running towards.

As soon as I came from around the hallway, I saw that Ulrich, Odd, and Aelita had all came out of a separate hallway and I activated Force Sprint to catch up to them. They had an exasperated expression on their faces as soon as they saw me.

"Man, we've already been through here?!" Ulrich exclaimed.

"Afraid so," I confirmed. We then started running towards another direction and Aelita stopped at a separate turn.

"This way," she said. She made to run, but I jumped in front of her and deflected a laser that was sure to hit her in her chest. I looked up to see another Creeper was crawling its way towards us.

"Yeah, I see you," I said, my expression deadly serious. Odd took up position right behind me and started unloading arrows at it. It couldn't do a thing about it either. Both of us did a backflip and a cartwheel to get back into cover.

"Those things sure are ugly!" Odd said with a smile.

"And strong. So don't get shot. I can't be around to stop you all from getting shot," I said.

"Note to self. We should let you go first on these tight hallways," Aelita said.

"And Ulrich last. Odd can shoot them from the back while we stop you all from getting shot. Let's do that when we start going through these hallways," I suggested.

"That's a really good idea. Jeremy, any ideas as to how we can find our way through this place?" Ulrich asked.

 _"No, but I've got news for you. You're in a labyrinth. Make a left at each fork, and leave a mark there. If the way is already marked, then make a right,"_ Jeremy said.

"That's a good idea. Let's go," I said, immediately taking point toward the next direction even though I had no idea where we were going. I kept my blade drawn and cut a corner of the path we ran down.

"This is incredible! We'll never get out of this thing!" Odd exclaimed.

 _"You'd better. Just two minutes left to find that switch to stop the countdown,"_ Jeremy said.

"Thanks for the reminder," I said dryly. We had made it out of the endless circle and finally had gotten out. I didn't bother with words and just kept running towards the opening I saw. Only to immediately hit a dead end.

"Ah, great," I said.

"Jeremy, can you see anything on your end?" Ulrich asked.

 _"Let's see... Go back to where you were. There's a mechanism on the wall,"_ Jeremy said.

"That's the switch! Man, I need to pay better attention," I said, turning around and following the others back down the hallway.

 _"Hurry! Time's running out!"_ Jeremy exclaimed.

I immediately Force Jumped up high enough to the switch's level only to be shot twice, and hit my head hard on one of the platforms.

"Fuck you XANA," I said as I heard more blasts. I looked off the ledge I had landed on to see two Creepers surround Aelita. "Oh, no you don't!"

I grabbed both of my swords and threw them at the Creepers. My first one missed, but the second one hit it dead in its head and destroyed it. But I could see that Odd and Ulrich were not there anymore, obviously caught off guard by the sudden arrival of the Creepers.

 _"Time's up. The room's bound to change,"_ Jeremy said. I could feel the platforms I was on immediately start to go up, so I rolled to the side to get off and down to Aelita's level. Only to be shot at again as I was going down. I kept rolling away from the Creeper's rapid blasts only for them to stop suddenly.

When I turned over on my back and looked to the side, I saw that Aelita was holding one of my swords and still had it gestured out towards where the Creeper's neck was previously at. I smiled as I was still on my back.

"I'm starting to get used to these things," Aelita said, looking at the sword in her hands.

 _"Robert, are you alright?"_ Jeremy asked.

"Slowly recovering from head trauma, but I'm fine. I can't have many life points left," I said as I slowly rose to my feet.

 _"Only twenty. The Creeper's do forty. You can't take another hit,"_ Jeremy said.

"Thanks for the reminder," I said, grabbing my swords from Aelita and holstering them again.

 _"Don't worry. I'll get Odd and Ulrich rematerialized to get you both some help. Come on..."_ Jeremy stressed.

"What's the issue?" I asked, but I got no answer. "Jeremy?"

 _"Oh no. Aelita, Robert! Odd and Ulrich didn't come back!"_ Jeremy suddenly exclaimed a few seconds later.

"Of course something goes wrong. And I have a feeling they wouldn't be the only ones under this threat. How are we going to get them back?" I asked.

 _"Sector Five seems to be written on a different materialization program. I'll have to find it. But finding it is probably as easy as finding your anti virus,"_ Jeremy said, sounding agitated.

"Don't worry. You'll find it," I assured him.

 _"But what about you? If one of those Creepers comes back and you get hit..."_

"I'll just have to be careful," I cut him off. "A little risk never hurt anyone. I know Yumi's under probation with her parents, but I could really use her help here," I said.

 _"Yeah, I'll call her. In the meanwhile, just stay where you are,"_ Jeremy said.

"Not like we're going anywhere in this place. All of the exits were closed off when the timer went off," I said in an exasperated tone.

"It'll be fine," Aelita assured me. I decided on sitting down on the wall with my eyes closed so I could relax a little. "Shame we're not in a tower. I could use some life point regeneration."

"I doubt anything will be able to get to us here," Aelita said right before we heard a familiar screech. "Robert... Jeremy... do you hear that?" I looked up to see that the Scyphozoa was descending upon us while two Creepers were crawling down the walls. The Creepers immediately leaped from the spots they were crawling on and landed right behind Aelita. I immediately drew my swords and looked between the Scyphozoa and Aelita.

 _"The Scyphozoa is there! Robert, protect Aelita at all costs!"_ Jeremy exclaimed.

"We're boxed in pretty good. There's not much I can do," I said as the Scyphozoa approached me. I raised my swords to try and slice it, but I saw that Aelita had been shot and she landed right next to me. The sight made anger rise up in me and I sliced one of the Scyphozoa's tentacles before she was shot again. XANA was playing dirty now.

 _"Robert! What are you doing?! Aelita's only got twenty more life points left! One more hit and she's done for!"_ Jeremy exclaimed.

The Scyphozoa hung in front of me and screeched loudly before its tentacles gestured in a 'come here' type of way. I sighed. I knew exactly what it was coming to. I held my arms limply by my side while looking directly at the ground with my eyes closed. I holstered my blades and slowly began to approach it. XANA was offering me an ultimatum. Me or Aelita. And for some reason, XANA wanted me as a slave rather than taking me out now and getting Aelita's memory here and now.

"Robert? What are you doing?" Aelita asked as I walked closer to it.

"Me or you. That's what XANA is asking. I'm not letting him get you. If he corrupts me, I want you to show no mercy. Push me out to the digital sea if you have to," I said, stepping up to the creature.

"I can't..." Aelita trailed right before the Scyphozoa had me bound in its tentacles. I somehow managed to tighten my fists before its tentacles made its way to my head and I was bound mentally and physically.

In what felt like no time at all, I felt myself drop to the floor and I was looking directly at the ground. Shots were fired at me, but I could see that something dark had been raised in front of us. Rising to my feet, I could see that a random wall had been raised in front of me and Aelita and she immediately walked over to me to help me up.

"I'm... I'm ok. Thank you," I said, before drawing both of my swords and gestured my head to the side. She smiled before jumping on top of my back and lowering the barrier that she had raised to protect us. Once it was lowered, I immediately Force Sprinted past them as they tried to fire at the location we were previously at. I was past them before they even got their shots off and I was heading towards an opening. We were introduced to an area that I didn't necessarily remember, but looked familiar to me.

"What is this?" Aelita asked.

 _"Looks like an elevator,"_ Jeremy said.

"Looks awfully fast to be an elevator, but I can work with it," I said, backing up for a running start.

 _"Try to get on the one Yumi is on,"_ Jeremy told me. I nodded and kept my eye out for her. I saw her coming from the right and she had her hand held out. I ignored that and immediately jumped onto the platform at the right time.

"Good reflexes," Yumi complimented me.

"Thanks," I said.

"Any idea where we're going?" Aelita asked.

"Yup. And it's going to be exactly what we need," I said. We stopped at a narrow platform and quickly reached the end of it. We were introduced to the very outer section of Sector Five.

"There's an interface on the end of this platform. Get into it and see what you can find," I told her. Aelita nodded and ran to the edge of the platform and immediately started accessing the interface.

"Incredible!" Aelita exclaimed.

 _"What?"_ Jeremy asked.

"It's unbelievable! The interface gives access... to XANA's own data!" Aelita exclaimed. "Sector Five is where XANA lives!"

The back of my head started to tingle again and I saw that the walls started to stretch, and I immediately drew my sword.

"We're going to have company," I said. Yumi nodded.

"I've got access to all kinds of data. It's crazy!" Aelita exclaimed.

 _"Look for the specific devirtualization code for Sector Five. If you find it, we can rescue Odd and Ulrich,"_ Jeremy told her. Then right as he said that, the Mantas had come out of their hidey holes.

"Great. I hate these stupid things," I said, having my sword at the ready.

 _"Try to let Yumi do all of the heavy lifting. You can't take another hit. If the Creepers are strong, these things are likely to do almost as much damage,"_ Jeremy warned me.

"I consider myself forewarned," I said, keeping my eyes on the manta surveying overhead.

"Jeremy, I'm going to need the Overwing," Yumi said.

"I could use Odd's Overboard as well," I said.

 _"Uh oh. Bad news. When Aelita's working on the interface, I can't do anything from my end,"_ Jeremy said.

"Great," I said with a groan.

"I think I found it. I'm transmitting it to you," Aelita said.

 _"Ok, I'm taking over again now,"_ Jeremy said as I eyed the mantas above us.

"These things are circling us like a pack of hungry sharks, and I am not liking it," I said, keeping my sword raised.

"Jeremy! The Overwing and the Overboard! Now!" Yumi exclaimed.

 _"They're on the way!"_ Jeremy exclaimed. Soon after he said that, the Overwing and board were immediately virtualized in front of us and Aelita made to get on the Overboard with me, but I shook my head.

"Yumi's got more life points than me. It's safer that way," I told her. She nodded and instead hopped on the Overwing with Yumi while I hopped on the Overboard and started flying to avoid the blasts from the Manta.

"Hopefully I'm better on this thing than I am on a skateboard," I said as I took flight. I kept my sword drawn as I gained height and I was being pursued by two of the Manta.

 _"Tunnels... What if - What if they corresponded to those than open on the arena?"_ Jeremy questioned.

"I'd say that be pretty useful right now, cause I-" I grunted as I deflected multiple shots that were coming my way. "Cause right now we need it."

 _"Yippee! It works!"_ Jeremy exclaimed.

"As much as I want to comment on your verbal form of celebration, instead I'm going thank you for finding us a way out of here," I said.

 _"Why thank you. That is much more preferred,"_ Jeremy said. We immediately took our leave, but one of the Manta moved in front of our path and shot Yumi off the board. I immediately nosedived down to intercept her and held her on my back as I flew us out alongside Aelita.

"That was a close call. Thank you," Yumi said.

"It's only right that I save your ass after you saved mine," I said as we returned back to the Mountain Sector.

 _"Get to a neutral tower. I'll bring you all in,"_ Jeremy said. I immediately flew into the tower that we exited near and the vehicles flew down the tower into oblivion. _"Ok, I'm ready. Code: Earth."_ All three of us were sent up into the air, and in no time at all, we were sent back to Earth.

I nearly fell over as I exited the scanner, my head spinning from the return trip. Man, it was still unpleasant getting out of those stupid things.

"We're here. But what about the others?" Aelita asked.

 _"I'm entering the code now. Materialization Odd. Materialization Ulrich,"_ Jeremy said. There was nothing to do but wait now. Jeremy came down to the transporters and we all just held hands and hoped it was going to work. I knew it was, but it was nice to be supporting to them in their time of need.

"Then the others appeared from out of the scanners and we let out a sigh of relief at the sight. I simply smiled.

"Yeah!" Jeremy exclaimed.

"We did it!" Aelita said.

"As if there was ever any doubt," I said as I helped Ulrich to his feet and Jeremy moved to help Odd to his.

"Odd? How do you feel? Say something," Jeremy said.

"Something," Odd said weakly. All of us laughed at Odd. Even when half conscious, Odd was still Odd.

We all had our arms around each others' shoulders as we were in the elevator. But the door barely even opened an inch before Kiwi came crawling through it.

"Kiwi?" I questioned. Then I looked up to see that Yumi's parents, the principal, and Jim were all standing outside. I gulped slightly. This was not good. Looks like we were going to have to return to the past after all...

"Yumi? What are you doing here?" Mr. Ishiyama questioned.

"I believe you all have some explaining to do," Principal Delmas said as he grabbed ahold of Ulrich's arm. He looked back at Jeremy, who nodded and hit the button. Aelita ran out, but I could tell that Jim was going to follow Jeremy in.

"Sorry for this Jimbo," I said as I jumped in the air and knocked him out with one swift jump kick to his temple. "I've always wanted to try that on someone." I didn't even give the adults a chance to even act as I took off running. Least I knew I could knock out a grown man with one kick. That was interesting to know.


	12. Chapter 12 - What a Waste

Episode References: A Great Day

* * *

"Man, these trips to Sector Five running me ragged," I said, cracking my neck loudly.

"You know I hate it when you do that," Aelita said.

"But it feels so good. Cut me a break Strawberry Top," I said with a smirk. She smiled at the nickname and simply nodded. I really liked this girl. She was just so damn nice!

"Ok, the analysis program is running," we could hear Jeremy say as well made it to the top of the elevator.

"Great! And... what does that mean exactly?" Odd questioned.

"With all of the data that we've been able to recover, I've got a chance of finding where XANA is storing Aelita's memory," Jeremy said.

"And that time will hopefully be soon. Once we get through XANA's first fake memory plant," I said.

"Yes, of course. And hopefully, Aelita will no longer be tied to XANA," Jeremy said.

"Yeah, and we can shut this stupid AI down. Though, he does give us quite a bit of entertainment," I said.

"He's right. I mean, what are we going to do with our free time? I mean, if we can't save the world anymore..."

"You might study a little more," Yumi suggested. "And learn something for once." I threw out my hands dramatically.

"Oh, no. Odd becoming smart. The horror!" I said dramatically. The whole group laughed, except for Odd, who crossed his arms defiantly.

"Oh, man. Well, we better head for our rooms if we don't wanna get caught," Jeremy said. I turned to Aelita, who was already looking at me.

"As if I already had to ask. Well, at least you're getting me good exercise. Without you, I'd turn into a fat lump," I said, lifting her onto my back. I could feel her rub the top of my hair.

"Don't act like you don't enjoy her riding on you," Odd said with a smirk. I blushed. I had a really dirty joke to say about that, but I resisted the urge to say it.

"Suppose not. Anyway, we're headed back to the dorm," I said, starting to take off running.

I immediately turned into sneak mode once we got near the dorms, and I had to restrain myself from breathing hard after we got the dorm. The others were not far behind me, but I was the only one who had to go to the girls' dorm. I knew if I got caught by a teacher up here, I was dead.

"Do you know if Jeremy's calculations lead to something?" Aelita asked me as we were in front of her door.

"Other than the trap?" I questioned.

"Yes. Other than that," Aelita said.

"I am honestly not sure. I mean, I don't know everything. Though I kind of wish I did. It would make things easier," I said while breathing heavy. "You know, I'm starting to get less tired the more we make these trips."

"Cause I make a good weight on your shoulders. Literally speaking, not figuratively," Aelita said.

"I know what you meant Lita. But it's alright. I'm glad to do it. You are my princess after all," I said, holding a fake sword in front of me. She giggled.

"And you're my knight," she said before hugging me. "Good night."

"Night," I said, walking away and stretching my limbs out of their soreness. "Ugh. I'm definitely ready to hit the hay tonight."

I woke up from out of my bed and sat near the computer that I had. I had no idea where they even got the money for these items that they bought me and Aelita, but honestly, I did not care in the slightest bit. And I had also programmed this thing to be linked to the Supercomputer as well so Jeremy wouldn't be the only thing that could forewarn us.

I searched on the computer for any action of XANA. No tower was activated, which pleased me. I could use a chill day. Though Jeremy was likely going to send us to Sector Five again so we could look for more info. I know he really wanted to find Aelita's memory, but he had us running ragged for the past few days. I needed some down time.

I rubbed my neck when I came down for breakfast the other morning, but my path was immediately blockaded by Sissi. I instantly groaned.

"Oh, man. It's too early for you to start trouble. What do you want?" I asked her.

"To listen to this," Sissi said, holding up an mp3 disk. "It doesn't have a lot of music, but the words are really great." I frowned. She sounded really smug, and I didn't like that.

She didn't even wait for my response as she played the tape from last night of me and Aelita's conversation. I simply frowned.

"What exactly is this supposed to prove?" I asked.

"Isn't it obvious? You're gonna do whatever I ask to make sure I don't show this tape to your little friend Jeremy," Sissi said with a smirk on her face. I shook my head at her stupidity.

"There are three reasons I'm not going to do that. One, I don't like you. Two, Aelita and I are not dating, and Jeremy will take my word over yours. And three, _I don't like you._ So move cretin. I've got breakfast to swallow," I said, attempting to move past her, but she consistently blocked my path. "If you don't move, I'm going to move you myself."

"Then think about this. If I show this to my father, I'll be able to tell him you and 'Lita' were up at night when you weren't supposed to," Sissi said.

"Yeah, but you were too, so I fail to see your logic," I said. Sissi smirked before putting on a mock innocent voice.

"'Oh, daddy. The two of them were just so loud last night and woke me up. I did my part as a responsible student and recorded this for you,'" she said before her voice went back to normal. "And it's my word, the daughter of the principal, over your word. The guy who ruined his clean slate after the first week. I think he'll take my word of yours, don't you think? And you may be able to handle your punishment, but will your precious little Miss Einstein be able to?"

I clenched my fists. Even though I was steaming mad, I had to admit that she had the cunning of the most devious of the snakes right now. I really didn't want Aelita to get in trouble for a simple mistake. But more importantly, while Aelita and I were stuck in detention, that could cause problems with XANA if he attacks. She and I were the only ones who could deactivate towers. Great.

"Fine. Just... what do you want?" I said, finally giving in. Sissi got a devious grin on her face, and my heart immediately dropped at the sight. I knew I was screwed from the get go. God, this was an unholy pile of fuck.

* * *

"You alright Robert? You're really quiet this morning, and you haven't eaten much," Aelita said as I barely managed a few bites of food. The thing she was making me to do made me sick to my stomach. I had even put a good word into this girl for Ulrich, which I was beginning to regret as I sat here.

"Come on, there's obviously something wrong. You and Odd normally compete of which of you can swallow down the most food the fastest," Ulrich said in a joking tone. But I didn't even crack a smile.

My eyes wandered over towards the direction of Sissi and she smirked. I knew she was listening to everything I was saying, and me and Aelita were screwed if she heard me give it away.

"I woke up feeling as sick as a dog this morning," I lied nonchalantly. Sometimes, I regretting being such a good liar. But then I could feel Aelita place the back of her hand on my forehead.

"You don't feel all that warm. Some kind of stomach bug?" she asked me.

"That would explain his considerable lack of appetite," Jeremy said.

"Probably," I said, still looking directly down.

"So this means I can have your portions?" Odd asked with a cheerful tone.

"Go ahead," I said, waving a nonchalant hand. He immediately grabbed the food from under me and I laid my head down on my arms. I never thought I could feel sick physically just from words, but this girl had did it. She deserved a fucking award.

"You think with your stomach and not your head most of the time, don't you?" Aelita questioned, her tone sounding somewhat impatient.

"Yup. It's much more liberating that way," Odd said.

"You think you'll be alright for class? Should we take you to Nurse Yolanda?" Jeremy asked.

"Nah. It's sure to wear off later on. At least I hope so," I said, standing up. "Maybe some air will do me good." I then walked out of the cafeteria and felt the early morning breeze on my face. It felt so good. But I still felt sick to my stomach.

 _"I can't stand this girl. I cannot stand her. I wish this bitch could fall down the stairs and be hospitalized for a few months so she'll be out of my hair,"_ I thought to myself as I paced.

"You're keeping your end of the bargain. Good. You better keep it that way," Sissi said, walking outside to join me.

"I hate you for this. You know I hate you for this, right?" I told her, trying my best to keep my face neutral just in case any of my friends happened to be looking at me.

"How about we go for a walk?" Sissi asked with a smirk. I was in no position to refuse, so I walked with her. It was a struggle to keep my face even because a vicious snarl was begging to replace how stolid I looked.

"I hate you so much," I repeated.

"You'll eventually turn that hate to love. After all, you've got no choice really," Sissi said.

"I have a choice. I'm just making the most self-destructive one," I said.

"Either way, I'm making it for you. You'll be walking me to class," Sissi said.

"Just what is this even proving? You think pretending to date me will make Ulrich jealous? You are sorely mistaken," I said.

"This time, it's not about Ulrich. It's all about your pink-haired friend," Sissi said, making me look at her crazy.

"What does Aelita have to do with-"

"I don't like her. You of all people know that. So that's why I'm going to use you to really make her want to move back to Canada where she belongs," Sissi said, making me tighten my grip on my fists.

"You sadistic little-" I tried my hardest to avoid saying something I would regret, but it was hard. But I knew this would backfire. Aelita had no romantic interest in me, so this wouldn't bother her other than the fact that I had stooped so low. But just the absolute nerve of it...

Then I could suddenly feel her lips pressed against mine. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see that Jeremy and the others were looking my direction. So I had to force myself to lean deeper into her lips. To act like I enjoyed it. That was my purpose. To act like a pawn in her mind games.

 _"Ugh. This is not how I wanted my first kiss to be. I wanted it to feel wonderful and romantic. Not... forced. I was thinking that I wouldn't ever be lured into these games that people pulled. Well... never say never I guess,"_ I thought to myself as I continued to kiss her. Then I had to pull away cause breath was lacking.

"Why did you pull away? They're still right there!" Sissi said.

"One, I don't want to be attached to your lips any longer than I have to, and two, I have to breathe. You can't do anything with a person who suffocated themselves to death," I told her while I forced myself to smile as they were right there. Sissi smiled as well while stroking my cheek. What this girl would not do to achieve her goals...

"You have a point. But I can say that you're not a great kisser. My Ulrich was so much better," she said. I remembered with a pang that Ulrich was forced into the same situation that I was. I wonder if he felt as bad as I do now.

"No shit. I didn't really want to kiss you. I just forced my lips onto yours," I said through a fake smile.

"That doesn't mean you have to make it terrible for a lady," Sissi said. I snorted.

"Someone walk up behind you?" I asked, pretending to look past her. Her face turned angry for a second before it quickly became neutral.

"Hmm. Sounds like something Odd would say," Sissi said.

"I've been giving him lessons," I said right as the bell rang.

"Kiss me on the cheek," Sissi said, turning her head. It took all of the effort I had not to smack her instead, but I gently placed my lips to her cheek and that was it. Didn't pucker or anything.

"I hate you," I repeated again.

"Love you too. Have fun," Sissi said with a smirk. I walked back towards the group who was still standing there, and it took all the urge I had not to wipe the gloss off my lips and started spitting and vomiting all over the ground.

"So... is that really what was your problem?" Jeremy questioned.

"Or were you being really cruel and giving her your bug?" Odd said with a hopeful grin.

"The first thing," I said, making Odd's smile turn into a frown.

"This is ridiculous," Yumi said, before staring my dead in my eyes "Is she blackmailing you?"

"No she isn't," I said evenly before thinking furiously, _"Please see through my lie... Please see through my lie... Please see through my lie..."_

"Out of all of the hot chicks you could've gone after in this school, you chose Sissi? My God, are you that desperate?" Odd questioned.

"Enough of this discussion. I want to have a normal class day," I said, glancing towards Aelita. She didn't say anything, nor did she look at me. She seemed... relatively neutral. Maybe she didn't know how to go about it.

Classes were so uncomfortable as I sat next to Aelita. She seemed to only talk to me when the class demanded it. Even then, it wasn't in the friendly tone that we always address each other with. She was a paragon of neutrality. Probably because she was divided between taking my side and the others'. And it drove me crazy.

I didn't even bother saying anything to anyone in Mrs. Hertz's class. I just felt awful as Sissi kept sending me winks half the class. I responded with a half hearted wave and paid attention to the lesson with a focus that I haven't felt in class since my CSI classes. The only subject I truly gave a shit about in my classes.

And of course, Odd manages to get in trouble with Mrs. Hertz when he was talking among the others. I just ignored it and looked down at my desk. I had never felt so upset in my life. My first kiss was robbed from me, and my friends were pissed at me. Except Aelita. The plain neutrality I got from her was worse than anger or irritation. I would've taken that over just treating me like was a minor acquaintance. It was torture.

I didn't even bother to join the others as they grouped up, and I settled for staying inside and sitting on the steps that lead to the dorms with a depressed look. I was in a good mood this morning. Now I just felt downright miserable. I could lie to them. Lying had become easy for me now. But I far from enjoyed it. I just felt irritation and anger of the highest degree.

"You ok?" I heard a voice say from above me. I recognized Emily from the Routine episode immediately and I shook my head. To hell with keeping it a secret now. Sissi was not around.

"No. I feel terrible," I said.

"I would too. Being trapped in a relationship with Sissi," Emily said.

"I'm being blackmailed into it. She's got something that could get one of my friends into trouble, and I want to avoid that, so I'm suffering through this," I said.

"To act like you actually enjoy the affection you give Sissi is not easy. Though, what were her exact words to you as far as this agreement goes?" Emily asked.

"'You better not tell any of your little friends, or guess where this tape's going,'" I reiterated. Emily smiled.

"Well, I'm not one of your little friends, am I? I could tell them for you," she said, making me smile in relief.

"I feel so happy, I could kiss you," I said with a smile.

"Don't. You still have Sissi on you. Disinfect them with soap and water, then I'll think about it. I'll go find them now," Emily said with a smirk and walking further down the steps and out of the door. Thank God for Emily. This made my situation considerably better. It's likely she would tell her father anyway if she found out I told Emily, but she wasn't keeping almost constant tabs on Emily, now was she?

I leaned back on the steps like it was a bed, and I closed my eyes while relaxing. Ah, I felt so much better. The weight that is Sissi had been lifted from my shoulders. I definitely owed Emily for this. Now my friends won't think I'm a complete shithead.

But after a few minutes, a familiar white light covered my entire vision and I was back in my bed in my night clothes again. Did we just return to the past? I knew for a fact Jeremy didn't do that, so I immediately suspected XANA. I had to let the others know. It would be considerably easier considering Emily had lifted the awkward burden that was Sissi off my back.

I walked out of my dorm and walked directly into Jeremy. His expression immediately turned into a displeased one and he turned the other direction, making me frown.

"Jeremy! Are you still pissed at me for lying to you?" I asked, catching up to him.

"What do you think?" Jeremy said.

"Didn't Emily tell you?" I questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"No. She approached us, but she didn't have a chance to explain what she wanted. You sent her?" Jeremy said as Sissi came around the corner. The sight of her immediately filled me with anger that made hear the blood pounding in my ears. I felt so pissed off, it wasn't even funny. My nails were digging into my palms and I could swear that I had snarled audibly. Like I was a rabid dog. By Jeremy's surprised look, I did.

I didn't even say anything as I approached Sissi, my snarl still in play. She didn't even notice it as she was smirking at the disk in her hand. She didn't even get a word out as I threw the disk out of her hand and into the wall, shattering it. Then, with a strength that I didn't even know was in me, forced Sissi on her knees as I pulled her face close to mine, my snarl still in play.

"I swear on every fiber of my being, if you EVER try and blackmail me with some bullshit like this again, I will curbstomp you in your teeth so hard, they'll be forced up your fucking skull and start bouncing around in there. _Do. You. Get. Me?"_ I said angrily, my words like venom on every enunciation. The thing that even scared me a little is that... I actually felt like doing it. She whimpered at how vicious my expression looked and nodded. I pushed her down the hallway she came from, and my anger hadn't even gotten close to simmering down.

"So..." I immediately cut him off by raising a hand.

"Give me a moment to calm down before I accidentally release it on you too," I said, slumping down on the wall and onto the floor. I took rapid and deep breaths. In and out... in and out... in and out...

"What's with him?" Yumi said.

"So, apparently Sissi did try to blackmail him with something and he smashed the one thing that she had on him," Jeremy said.

"See? I told you he was being blackmailed!" Odd exclaimed.

"Just how did you even manage to that so well? I could not have pulled that off," Ulrich said.

"I'm a good liar. Apparently, much better than I could've ever fucking thought," I said, licking my sleeve. My voice soon became one of despair. "Ugh. Even the return of the past can't remove the aura of her lips. Man, my first kiss was fucking wasted. Makes me wish I could forget it."

"Tell me about it," Ulrich said, knowing my pain. Yumi looked at Ulrich with a raised eyebrow, but Odd's cutoff saved him from accusation.

"Just what was so bad on that tape that it would get you to deal with Sissi?" Odd asked.

"XANA's best opportunity. The thing that was on there was a conversation me and Aelita had last night that would've gotten us both in trouble. And if we served detention together, they know I have a habit of skipping out when we don't return to the past. So they would have the doors covered. And that equals..."

"An easy opportunity for XANA to attack. I see. That's quite the sacrifice. You must be really devoted to this cause," Jeremy said.

"I am. Now do you get why I felt sick to my stomach this morning?" I asked.

"It's very clear now. Sorry we doubted you," Jeremy said.

"Ah, it's fine. I don't fault you for it. But come to think of it, I was a good actor, wasn't I? Maybe I should go join Broadway," I said, in a fake thoughtful pose to test the waters.

"You'd ruin it. You're a good actor, but they can't handle the type of chaos you'd bring to the table. You'd be a hurricane on their little village," Jeremy said with a smirk. I grinned with my eyes closed and I heard Odd and Ulrich chuckle.

"But in all seriousness. I can tell you this much. If I ever enter a relationship, unless I'm still working things out, you will all know about it. I assure you of that," I told them.

"That's good to know. But hopefully Sissi is not in your future," Ulrich said.

"I honestly thought at times she could be good, but... either I thought wrong or that's until much, much later. Anyways, ignoring that, XANA's taking over the return to the past function. He's going to keep repeating it over and over again to increase his power," I told them.

"What? XANA gets more power from the return to the past function?" Odd questioned.

"How is that possible?" Ulrich asked.

"I don't know how it works. All I know is that one more return trip means he can start possessing people now, and that's not good. We need to skip the morning and head straight to Lyoko. The only good thing about this is that we have plenty of time before he starts the process on it again. We need to get moving," I said with my arms crossed.

"What are we waiting for?" Jeremy said, walking past me to head towards the tower. I looked at Aelita, who looked at me with a slightly guilty look.

"Robert..."

"Don't bother Lita," I said, perhaps more gently than necessary. "It's fine." I followed Jeremy as we began to run to the tower. I felt very distant from Aelita ever since she gave me her version of the cold shoulder. I _hated_ getting the cold shoulder.

We continued towards the factory and we were quickly virtualized to Lyoko to handle the tower, to which Jeremy already had the coordinates to. I turned towards Aelita and smirked while holding my arm to the side as if I was a plane. She gave me a small smile before grabbing my arm. I immediately raised my arm towards my back and she grabbed ahold of my neck before I dashed off immediately.

"About Sissi..." I couldn't restrain a gag in my throat.

 _"Please_ don't bring that up again. I'm still trying to forget that it happened," I said, unintentionally slowing down from my disgust.

"I'm sorry. I thought you had lied to us. I mean, from what we saw..."

"I told you. I don't fault you for it. But you are starting to irritate me by bringing it up several times. Let's just let it die. That makes it easier to forget," I said as I stopped right outside the tower, which was guarded by four blocks and a swarm of hornets. It was more than likely this was more powerful than the canon welcoming committee. "Can you clear things up for us a little?"

"No problem," Aelita said as she held her hand out and began to sing. A large rock suddenly appeared above the monsters and crushed most of them except a few hornets that managed to move out of the way at the last minute. They immediately spotted us upon moving out of the way and started firing at us, forcing me to have to run another direction to not get shot. I didn't want to take any risks with Aelita on my back by jumping at them.

"Need a little help?" I could hear Odd shout. I turned towards his voice and saw that Yumi, Ulrich, and Odd were coming up on their vehicles.

"That'd be great," I said as I slid behind a rock and dropping Aelita off. "When I say now, run for the tower." She nodded before I bent back my feet to get into a sprinter's stance before taking off. I used the rock to propel myself upward before I was met by rapid laser fire. As I was running on the tower, I glanced at the side to see a tarantula had shown up to the party as well as the Scyphozoa.

"Isn't this fantastic?" I sarcastically said to myself before standing at the top of the tower. I then went into a missile style dive with my swords spinning out in the front of me. The tarantula couldn't do anything as I went straight through him when I launched myself. The explosion didn't even hurt me. I then focused my attention on the Scyphozoa, who was getting close to Aelita.

I quickly ran in front of it and started slicing so fast, it was like I was in a kung fu film. When I blinked, I saw that a bunch of its tentacles were gone and it was forced back when I decided to lash out for it's center target reticle. It quickly moved out of range before I could and was gone.

"Bitch," I said, holstering my swords. I could hear from the lack of laser gunfire that the others had taken care of the hornets that remained.

 _"That_ was a good workout," I said as I approached the others with my fingers taking an appearance of guns.

"Yes, it definitely was. Though none of us really need to lose weight," Ulrich said.

 _"How about you save the conversation for later and deal with the tower now?"_ Jeremy asked.

"Can do. Aelita?" I said, gesturing towards the tower. "Your throne, your highness."

"Appreciated, noble knight," Aelita said, holding the bottom edges of her outfit as if she was doing an extravagant princess bow. It was too much for me and I started laughing before I was shortly joined by the others. The dynamic we had was back baby. Hell yeah.

* * *

A/N: Dis chapter though. It was a random twist to this episode that may be a little bit of a stretch, but hey. Everything that happens in this story is a stretch. Hope you enjoyed it.


	13. Chapter 13 - Valentine's Day

A/N: Episode References: Saint Valentine's Day(kinda obvious)

This is a chapter I worked on early. I decided to start the course of it with a subtle hint from another chapter. But I'm going with it. Let's get into it.

* * *

"Hey Aelita," I said as she came running up to us. She looked real excited too. Wonder what it was?

"Thanks Jeremy," she said immediately. I turned my head curiously at her.

"I'm doing fine. Thanks for asking," I said, waving at her. She turned my direction and smiled.

"Sorry. I'm just really happy," Aelita said.

"I see," I said before noticing the necklace that she was wearing. "Nice necklace. It suits you."

"Thank Jeremy. It's a wonderful Valentine's Day gift," Aelita said, eyeing Jeremy. I looked towards him with a sly look and elbowed him in a teasing fashion.

"You dog, you," I said with a smile. Though Jeremy's face was confused rather than embarrassed. But that was quickly wiped away with a smile.

"You're welcome Aelita," he said. Then Aelita's smile remained glued to her face as she walked away. I turned to Jeremy and immediately faced him.

"Alright, I know you didn't give her that necklace by the look on your face," I said with a raised eyebrow.

"It was that obvious?" Jeremy asked.

"Yup. But, luckily for you, love has made Aelita blind," Ulrich said, making me roll my eyes.

"Oh, come on Ulrich!" Jeremy exclaimed before the bell immediately rang.

"That's class. Look, we'll discuss Aelita's secret admirer later. Right now, we'd better go before we end up being late from this mystery," I said, walking to my next class.

To be honest, I didn't even know it was Valentine's Day. It was among the more useless of the holidays. At least for me cause I was single. Which definitely does not merit a reason to keep track of the day. One day when and if that changes will it be different. Not a moment before. You could argue that it was the perfect day to try and go after someone, but that's not much of an argument.

I sat down in the classroom and put my right foot over my right knee with my eyes closed. Knowing this world, I was probably going to hear a bunch of cheesy valentine shit. It was better than the kind of crap I see in my world. I could survive it no problem.

"Robert?" I heard a familiar voice question. I opened my eyes to see Emily standing in front of me. I had been considerably polite to her ever since she agreed to help with the problem I had with my friends. Granted, she didn't remember it happening, but that didn't stop me from my kindness. She had become a very good friend when I have to deal with frustrating shit with the others.

"Hola mi amiga. Como estas?" I questioned.

"You do know that I only know a few words in Spanish, right?" she asked. I smiled.

"Yeah, but I sound a lot more exotic speaking Spanish, don't you think?" I asked.

"I'd say you do," Emily said. I frowned at the sight of her twisting her hands nervously.

"Is something wrong?" I asked her.

"Oh, no. I'm just a little nervous," Emily said, putting her hands behind her back.

"Nervous? Why? You do realize there are no eggshells to step on around me. If there are, they are very small ones. I'd like to see you find them," I challenged with a smile on my face. "Go ahead. Try."

"That's not what I mean," Emily said. I tilted my head at her curiously.

"Then what do you mean?" I asked.

"This isn't traditional, but happy Valentine's Day," she said, handing me a gift. My eyes widened bigger than I thought possible. I looked at her before looking back at the gift, my heart beating ten times faster. Within two seconds, I felt the biggest rush of my life that tied with a rollercoaster.

"Well... wow. Damn..." I said, staring at the gift.

"Are you already dating someone? Did I cross the line?" Emily asked, looking somewhat nervous.

"No, no. Of course not. It's just... this has never happened to me. It's... slightly overwhelming. But not at all unpleasant," I said, my tone subdued. "I actually feel pretty bad that I don't have one for you."

"I didn't expect you to really. But... just open it," Emily said.

It felt like I took an eternity to open the gift. Normally when I get presents in my house, I rip open the gift like a rabid animal through food. I didn't have it in me to do it here.

The box revealed to to be a golden watch. Now I could tell that it was painted metal. Most watches were to avoid being too expensive, but it was still a cool looking watch.

"Thank you. This is really nice," I said.

"You're welcome. Um... so, um... Man, this is not easy," Emily said. It took all of my nerve I had in my gut. Not to mention my mind to repeatedly tell me to quit being a bitch, but I managed to stand up and kiss her on the cheek before hugging her. My cheeks felt bright as all living shit, but I maintained the embrace.

"You really have no idea how much this means to me, do you?" I asked her.

"Well... no. No I don't. But I'm pretty sure I have a good idea now," Emily said.

"We'll talk later. Cause... I think I need to compose myself and really think on this," I said.

"I think that might be a good idea," Emily said, moving out of my embrace and walking outside of of the class. I forgot she didn't even have this class. She went out of her way to do this, which definitely meant something.

I could catch traces of pink on her face, and I could not blame her. My face would likely be redder than all living shit if I wasn't black. This I know. But I felt warm and tingly on the inside. This feels like the first time I've ever seen someone show a genuine interest in me romantically. Other than middle school, and that ended up to be a disaster.

I looked around the room and noticed that the room was mostly empty, which made me sigh in relief. The ones that were here didn't seem to notice. Though I saw that the teacher flashed me a grin when I looked in his direction. I blushed and looked back down at the watch. I smiled before removing my jacket and putting on my watch. My Valentine's Day gift. In my case, the thought itself was absurd. I normally didn't take off my jacket except when I was REALLY hot, but I was going to wear this watch with pride, dammit.

I put the top on the box and walked over to the trash can before throwing the box in there. I looked at the watch and I just couldn't stop smiling whenever I looked at it. I couldn't help but feel like a big goof whenever I looked at it. And knew what it meant. Well, what it possibly meant. I didn't want to get my hopes up, but I was finding it harder and harder not to.

"Why are you grinning like a Cheshire cat?" Jeremy asked me as he walked up to me. I blushed slightly and removed my hands off the table while looking down at my lap.

"No reason," I said, trying my best to keep my tone level and my expression average. Then I moved further to look like I was examining something on the ground as a way to try and get suspicion off me. I wanted to keep this a secret at least until I had everything figured out. I didn't want to give them only part of the story. Cause only I had the first half of this story myself.

I was silent through most of the class instead of my usually "know it all, answer almost every question possible" self. I just kind of looked down at the watch on my wrist while looking up every once in a while to make sure that the teacher wasn't looking my direction. He wasn't every time, which I was all too happy about.

 _"Man, I can't believe this. The possibility of me, out of all people, having a girlfriend. Not only a girlfriend. A cute one too. Living here, I've experienced things that I likely would not have experienced in a long time in my world. Man, I don't think I can go back to where I live. We're more advanced there, but I'm happier here,"_ I thought to myself as I continued to trace my finger on the watch.

"Robert," I suddenly heard Jeremy say.

"What is it?" I asked him.

"Did you give Aelita that necklace?" Jeremy asked me.

"No, I didn't. I would've gladly told you if I was. To be honest, giving a gift to anyone on this particular day is suggestive, and that's not very wise if you don't want the hounds of high school on your tail without the intention," I told him.

"Come on. I won't be upset if you did. You and Aelita have been close for a long time. It would make sense that you've grown feelings for her," Jeremy told me.

"I told you. If I had feelings for someone or if I was dating someone I would let you know. Yes, me and Aelita are close, but we are not romantically close. I assure you of this," I said, my tone impatient. Technically, I wasn't sure of either of those things with Emily, so I was not lying.

"Sorry. I'm just-"

"Jealous? I understand. You don't have anything to worry about. She's got eyes only for you Einstein," I said, looking back at him with a reassuring smile. I saw him nod and look away. I turned back around got lost in thought again. To be honest, it had never felt so good to be in school right now. But the next thing I knew, I could hear Jeremy and Odd yelling at each other. I turned around and clapped my hands together loudly.

"Hey, hey, hey! Break it up!" I exclaimed. Odd and Jeremy both looked at me in a flash, the teacher immediately registering the two.

"If you have more important subjects to discuss than today's lesson, I suggest you do so in the principal's office!" he exclaimed. I looked at Jeremy and shook my head before sitting back down at my desk, putting my left hand on my forehead.

"You too Mr. Morgan," the teacher suddenly said, making me immediately stand up and hold my hands to the side.

"What did I do?" I asked, my face morphed into an expression to suggest unfairness.

"We were all standing here watching. He tried to break it up as soon as he saw the argument," I could heard one of the students say.

"Yeah, so did I. He just told them to stop when they started yelling at each other," Ulrich said.

"Oh. Forgive me Mr. Morgan. That was a mistake on my part. Perhaps my hearing is getting worse. Please, take your seat," the teacher said, gesturing for me to sit down before eyeing Odd and Jeremy with a stern look. "But you two - out. You've already disrupted enough of my class." Both of them immediately walked out of the door and I looked back down at my desk.

"Never underestimate the power of jealousy and the power of envy to destroy," I muttered to myself. It was a quote I read in a book, but I never really understood how right it was. Odd and Jeremy were good friends, bonded in their understand of the danger that XANA brought. Yet they just argued like that. I know friends tend to fight every once in a while, but still. This was over something pointless. That was what got to me.

When class was over, I threw my jacket on and stuffed my hands in my pocket. But getting my hands in my pocket reminded me of what happened with Emily, as my watch shifted when I stuffed them in my pockets. Break was coming up in a few moments, and I knew that I would have to find her. One thing I knew for sure. I'd have to give her a gift in return. Otherwise, it would seem like I was ungrateful. But I had no experience in getting gifts.

I had a fair amount of money in my pocket. After Jeremy told me that teachers pay students a little for helping them with small tasks. It felt good to have money in pocket, but I had nothing to do with it at the time. Now I did. And I was damn sure going to use it.

I saw Jeremy walking with Ulrich and Yumi, but that was not my primary focus. I continued to scan the crowd searching for Emily before spotting her next to a beam, talking with one of her friends. My timing seemed to be perfect as when I got close, they sounded like they were just starting with the conversation.

"So, did you give it to him?" I heard her friend ask as I hid behind the balcony.

"Yeah, I did. He told me he liked it and said he wanted to talk with me later about where we were going. To be honest, I'm nervous that I may have suddenly scared him into making a decision without really knowing me. He told me that he's never actually gotten a valentine. He says he hasn't even dated in a while, going back to a conversation I remember a while ago," Emily said.

"Really? But he's so nice. Granted, he's very brash and never shameful, but not only is that attractive, he's also really easy to get along with and very protective of his friends. That's kind of hard to believe," her friend said, nearly making me laugh. If she only knew the world I lived in...

"Do you see him anywhere?" Emily asked. I took this opportunity to sneak right up next to her while they were looking in another direction.

"I don't see him," her friend said as they were rotating around. I decided to be bold and wrap my arms around her waist softly, making her yelp softly. I was blushing like crazy, but I managed to get out a smile.

"You didn't look hard enough," I said, looking past her shoulder to look her in the face. I then removed my arms and moved in the front of her to formally talk to her. "I'd definitely like to talk now. If that's ok with you."

"I'll let you two talk then," Emily's friend said, walking off. I faced her with my hands in my pockets and nervously looked at her. I could see that she was digging the tip of her heel nervously into the dirt while her face was red. She seemed just as nervous as I was. She didn't seem that way with Ulrich, but then again, I don't think she had romantic intentions with him in the first place. Maybe she thought Ulrich and Yumi were a thing, I didn't know.

"So, how do you like the watch?" Emily asked quickly, seemingly trying her hardest to get the conversation going.

"Uh, yeah. I love it. I've said that already. Look, let's not prolong this. Just... do you want to be my valentine?" I asked slowly. The words sounded stupid even as I said it. Even though I mentally scolded myself, I could see that her face got even brighter. She was dead ass serious about this, which was hard to believe.

"Like I said, it's not necessarily traditional. Normally the guy asks the girl out, but I was afraid that you wouldn't ever ask me," Emily said, looking down at the ground.

"You're probably not wrong. Mainly cause my mind always finds a way to worm me out of it. Like, 'she's probably dating someone' or 'We can't go out and find dates and stuff cause I don't come by much money,'" I said, going over my various excuses. At the core, I just plain afraid of rejection. It was as simple as that.

"Well, I can safely say that I don't have much of a problem with that. As long as we can just... be, I have no problem with that. Do you know what I mean?" Emily asked.

"I think I do. Just... we spend some our spare time getting to know each other, seeing how we get along?" I questioned. Then I could see her nod. Then I could see her walk closer to me, and my heart began to speed up faster at her sudden movement. Then I could feel her lips touch my cheek, my face turning hot at the touch.

"Is that a yes?" she asked.

"It's definitely a yes. Look, I'd like to see you after school. We'll meet out here and we'll take a walk into town," I said.

"You think we can make it back before curfew?" Emily asked.

"While I'm very good at sneaking back into my dorm, I'll do my best to oblige you milady," I said with a nod of my head and my hand near it like I was tipping an imaginary hat. She laughed at my antics, and I grinned wide. It felt good.

"I don't want this to be weird. If it is, I don't think we should date," Emily said.

"I can deal with that. I'll be disappointed, but I suppose I can deal with it. But..." I said, slowly reaching out to grab her hand. But I was really hesitant.

"Go ahead," she encouraged me. I grabbed her hand and held it in front of my while stroking my thumb on the back of it softly.

"Honestly, I don't want it to be awkward," I said.

"I don't either. I like you. I really do," Emily said, sending a pleasant shiver down my spine. Those words... it was the closest to 'I love you' that I had ever gotten in my life. It... it felt so good.

"Can I hear you say it again?" I asked.

"I like you. I really do," Emily said, making me smile wide. It was rare that I heard words that made me feel so good.

"I really like you too. I'll see you later?" I said, pulling her hand close to me and placing my lips to them tenderly.

"Definitely," Emily said. I walked away from her and couldn't help but turn my hood around and use it to hide my smile. I felt so happy, it was ridiculous.

"You got a cold or something?" Ulrich asked me as he approached me. I quickly tried to wipe the smile off my face as I turned to face him.

"Nah, just a little cough. I hope it's not a cold. That would really dampen the mood," I said.

"Even more than Yumi did?" Jeremy asked, causing her to glare at Jeremy. I sighed.

"What happened?" I asked.

"Yumi overreacted to Sissi giving me a valentine's gift," Ulrich said.

"What was the gift?" I asked.

"Ticket to the Subsonics concert," Ulrich said.

"Your favorite band, right?" I asked. He nodded before I turned to Yumi.

"Why, on heavenly earth, are you overreacting? If Ulrich wants go to the concert with her, he is full within his rights to. There's nothing you can do to stop him really," I told Yumi, making her shift her glare to me. But I didn't flinch from the look. "I'm speaking the truth here."

"He's right, you know. Sissi had every right to give Ulrich a present. Just like William had every right to give you a present," Jeremy said.

"Exactly. You don't see me overreacting to him. We are only friends. No more, no less," Ulrich said with an even look. Though I could tell that Ulrich was possibly still a little bitter about it.

"Problem?" I questioned, raising an eyebrow at Yumi. She forcefully jerked her head away while looking at the ground, but I couldn't tell if she was angry with us, herself, or both. Either way, she was definitely upset about this.

"No. No problem," she said. I nodded in satisfaction, though I knew that this discussion would be brought up again one day.

"By the way, doesn't anyone know where Aelita is?" Jeremy asked.

"No, I haven't seen her. Think she's in her room thinking about something that involves the words 'I do,'" I said with a smirk. Jeremy blushed before glaring at me.

"Just how long are you going to tease me about that?" he asked.

"Until you make it official. Cause you might wanna lock her down before someone else puts the move on her and she gets tired of waiting," I told him.

"You must date a lot," Jeremy asked me. I shook my head.

"Quite the contrary. I've only had two relationships. Neither was at a time where I was ready for one. But who knows? I might be getting on the saddle sometime soon," I said, my thoughts going back to Emily.

"Can't wait. You and Odd are the only ones we can't really tease about that," Ulrich said.

"That's cause Odd's too much of a Casanova to settle down. As for me, well... let's just say I'm not the most confident person when it comes to women," I said.

"You're confident on just about everything. Why do women make you lose that confidence?" Jeremy asked. I looked at Yumi while smirking.

"Do you have to ask?" I said before laughing as she punched me on my shoulder hard, making me have to rub it from the pain. "Damn you hit hard."

"That's kinda the point," Yumi said moodily. I rolled my eyes and turned back to Jeremy.

"But on a serious note, I suppose it comes from and underlying fear of rejection and not being able to measure up to standards. Trust me, in reality, acceptance is the number one thing I look for in everyone. Friends, family, and girlfriends. If you can accept my crazy ways, you've already got me by the neck," I said, pulling my hand up like I was yanking an imaginary chain.

"Well we definitely accept you. Weirdness and all. I'm not going to lie. You are the weirdest person I've ever met, but you're one of the best," Ulrich said, making me smile.

"Thanks. And just so you know, I take calling me weird as a compliment. Cause that's how I work," I said.

"And there's that brashness we like so much about you," Ulrich said, making me laugh.

"And you're nothing if not broody. But it's so you," I told Ulrich, making him snort.

"Please. If anything, calling me broody is pretty kind. I tend to go full blown depressed sometimes," he said.

"Yeah, you do," Yumi suddenly said. I shook my head. Goodness, things had become a little tense. But the bell ringing cut that tension to pieces.

"Alright, we'll meet Aelita in class. She still enjoying that necklace?" I asked Yumi.

"She can hardly keep her hands off the thing," she told me. It seems like she had gotten over my remarks. Which is surprising cause her and Ulrich both tend to hold grudges. I'm like Odd. I can't hold a grudge for very long unless it's something really bad. Even then, it's gone in a few days. Ugh. I didn't have much of a cruel edge, which I couldn't say for sure whether it was a good thing or a bad thing.

We ended up back in class and I took my usual seat next to Aelita. But I could see that Emily had take a seat in the back and I looked back towards her. When she sat down, we made eye contact and I gave her a bashful grin. She did the same and gave me a small wave before I turned back around. I couldn't wait for the afternoon to hit.

"You seem to be getting along just fine with Emily," Jeremy said as he passed me.

"Yup. I would say so," I said. Jeremy simply walked over to his desk and I sighed in relief. Thank God it wasn't any of the others who saw that, or they would've made me for a fool in a minute. It wasn't like I was being very subtle about it.

The lesson continued in about no time at all, and I was answering questions back to back along with Jeremy like the know-it-alls we loved to be. Everything felt normal. Actually, it felt better than normal. Watch XANA come along and try to fuck it up like he _always_ does. It never fails most of the time.

"Do you think we can go to Sector Five after class?" Aelita asked me, making me look at her curiously. "I know where to find my memory to avoid being linked to XANA anymore." I got an uneasy feeling in the pit of my stomach when she said that. Something seemed... off. Cause I didn't take Aelita to be a forgetful one.

"I don't think that's a very good idea. Remember, I know XANA has set up the discovery of your memory to be a trap. If we go, you'll just be walking straight into the Scyphozoa's hands without any of us being any aid to you," I reminded her. When she didn't say anything for a few seconds, I thought the case had been closed. But it obviously wasn't when I heard her speak again.

"Please? Hmm?" Aelita said with a look and a tone so sweet that even for me, it was pretty damn difficult to resist. Jesus, regardless of where I was going with Emily before long, I don't think even she would be able to affect me this bad. Which I felt the need to scold myself for.

"Uh-uh. I can't take the risk of it being a trap. If we do go, we need to go under better circumstances. Jeremy and Odd are pissed at each other, and Yumi's mad at Ulrich for a reason that completely baffles me. I'll see if we can do something later this afternoon," I told her. I then turned back to the front of the classroom, again thinking that it was over. Then I could feel her shift her chair next to mine and her face got awfully close to mine.

"It could be just the two of us. I would imagine you would like that, wouldn't you?" Aelita whispered. Her breath tickled my ear, making me shiver. I had to scoot further away to try and ease some of my discomfort, but I couldn't lie that I felt a little _excited_ at her words. If you can catch my drift.

 _"I'm used to her being innocent and cute. Why is she so seductive and sexy all of a sudden?"_ I thought to myself. I won't lie. Seductive and sexy looked good on her. It was unnatural, but it looked good. For a second, I almost forgot I was keeping a promise to Emily. Cause this was incredibly hard to resist.

But then again, something didn't feel right. Aelita seemed a little too much out of character. And it was on the tip of my tongue. When I felt her lips touch my cheek, I ended up falling out of my chair from the shock. I didn't knock anything down, but I still made a loud commotion.

"Damn that hurt," I said, rubbing my right ass cheek from the pain of the fall. Just what had gotten into Aelita? Then upon her innocent look at my spill, the necklace somehow shined even brighter and my eyes widened from understanding.

 _"I remember now. The necklace! The fucking necklace was a trap from XANA all along!"_ I thought furiously.

"Mr. Morgan!" I could hear Mrs. Hertz exclaim.

"I'm fine, thanks for asking," I said, dusting myself off. At least the fall had spared me of temptation. "Sorry, I moved to pick something up and ended up falling."

"What did you drop?" Mrs. Hertz asked. With a trained precision, I quickly nabbed the pencil I keep in my pocket and held it up.

"Forgive me. I can be quite clumsy sometimes," I said.

"Yes. Well, I see you moved to pick up an item that was in your pocket the entire time," Mrs. Hertz said as the students began laughing.

 _"Damn. She found me out. She has a sharp eye,"_ I thought before speaking out loud. "Yeah, I got nothing else."

"I'm sure. To the principal's office with you!" Mrs. Hertz exclaimed. I looked at XANA possessed Aelita out of the corner of my eye and she gave me a reassuring smile, but I saw her pupils change from her traditional black to the Lyoko symbol in a second flat. It was quick, but I saw it. I backed up right next to Aelita and, with a swift movement, quickly snatched the necklace off her neck and jumped over desks while making my way out of the class room before Mrs. Hertz could even state her reaction to my actions. Luckily the necklace had a cheap rope tied around her neck, so that made snagging it all the easier. I must've looked like such a psycho, but better than leaving Aelita in the hands of XANA.

I made my way out of the building and went into the forest to lose any trail of anyone possibly chasing after me. When I looked behind me, no one was there. But when I turned back around, I saw a dude with brown hair in front of me. No second guessing what that meant. But before I could even think to react, I was grabbed by my collar and I felt a brief electric shock before I lashed out with my feet to get him off me. I still held the necklace in my grip and tightened it. I could feel the fake gem on it crack under my fist and I looked at it to see that it was shattered.

But there was a chip in the middle. I quickly pocketed it. It might be useful. But the feeling of satisfaction I got quickly disappeared when I got a kick to my face.

I hit the trunk of a tree with force and I could feel my spine scream in pain from the impact. I tightened my fists before rising to my feet in an attempt to shake off the pain. But at least XANA lost his only tool to get to Aelita.

"Regardless of whether I walk out of this alive or dead XANA, you still lost today," I said, facing his human host. Then I could see that he ran up to me and a lightning fast speed and attempted sock me in the face with an electric fist. I grabbed his wrists as both of his hands came towards my face and nearly turned me into a cooked turkey. I then lashed out with a foot in his face, but XANA seemed to expect this. Since he could move at inhuman speeds, he forced his arms from from my grip and grabbed my foot with one hand.

My eyes widened, and his host's face simply lit up with a dark grin before sending electric shocks through my foot as my second foot was coming around to knock him off me, but I still got a little of the electric shock. I then rolled away before shakily rising to my feet. His host was still smiling as widely as ever when I stood up. I started limping backwards to try and see if I could ease my way back onto the campus grounds. XANA wasn't having any of that as he quickly moved in front of my face and try to hit me with a punch.

My injuries had really slowed me. I managed to grab the wrist of the first punch, but not the second as it went barreling directly into my ribs. The electricity hit me hard and I could feel it being hit with a sensation that was like touching a five hundred degree oven times three. I couldn't hold in my pain and let out a strangled yell. But as I was keeled over, a knee connected to my face and I was knocked down on my back, struggling to find stable breathing and hold in my pain. I had the skill, but XANA had speed, power, and skill. Nothing I could really do against that in a fair fight. Then I chuckled to myself, despite the situation. This was fair. Yeah, right.

Then I could see his host standing over me with his hand sparking with electricity. His dark smirk was still on his face as his hands came down to meet my throat. I struggled to try and get his hands off my neck, but he was much stronger. I was weak; He was strong. I was injured; He didn't have a scratch on him. Quite simply, I was overmatched. But I wasn't going to go down without a fight.

Instead of trying to pry his grip off, I wildly gestured my arms out to try and find something I could use to get him off me. I could barely think from my oxygen leaving my body at a quick rate, but I could feel my hand close around a hand sized rock. Convenience was always a thing in these shows. Thank God for the plot rock.

With all of the force I could muster, I quickly moved my hand to the side and rapidly whacked him in the skull with the rock, my hand barely moving an inch away from his head between hits. To my immense satisfaction, he was knocked off of me with the side of his head bleeding. He was unconscious, but I didn't know for how long. I had to keep it moving. If this guy wasn't an actual human being, I'd bash his head in until I see brain just for good measure.

 _"Wow, that turned dark really quick,"_ I thought to myself.

I immediately got to my feet and started heading back towards the school. I was half dragging the foot that XANA had electrocuted. Twice. My chest felt like a hole was slowly about to form from the intense burning and my nose felt like it was broken from his knee to my face. And to top it all off, it felt like my neck was bruised from XANA's attempt to strangle me. Was it me, or was XANA starting to get more brutal? That I didn't like. Either that or the show was really underwhelming how much damage XANA could do to the human body. Then again, I wasn't that surprised. It was supposed to be a kids show.

When I neared the edge of the forest and XANA still didn't come after me, I found that I could breathe easier. I could also see that Jim was walking toward the building Mrs. Hertz was in alongside the principal.

"Hey! I could use some help!" I yelled, my voice sounding strangled. My chest reacted badly to it and I bent down to clutch my chest from the pain. God, why does this have to hurt so much?

"There you are! You're supposed to be in class. Mrs. Hertz called for us when you ran out of class, and-" His statement was cut off when he saw my face after I found the strength to look up.

"Oh, my word! What happened?" Principal Delmas asked me.

"Can I get a hospital first?" I asked, raising my only free hand as my other one was clutching my pained chest.

"Yes of course, I'll go and call-"

"No need. Here," I said, handing him my cell phone out of my pocket. I could feel it taken from me and then I could feel Jim's beefy arms help me to my feet. But I had a pit of fear in my stomach. What about XANA? Was he going to strike? The others didn't know I had been attacked. And they likely wouldn't if I didn't let them know.

I was slowly guided towards the infirmary while the principal was on the phone. My legs felt weak and shaky as I was dragging them to the infirmary rather than walking. I felt half conscious while doing so, and like you could guess, the pain I was feeling was not helping.

 _"You know, XANA's a brutal bastard. Bravo, you glorified trans Siri. Bravo,"_ I thought as I was guided. _"And of course, even after getting my ass kicked, I'm talking shit. I am not a smart man."_

But I could feel that my breaths were getting shorter and I felt closer and closer to falling unconscious. It was amazing how much it felt like I was going to sleep. It was so tempting to give in. Like falling into the hands of a soft angel. A blissful and peaceful feeling. But that was quickly ruined when I felt a forceful hand was put on my shoulder. I quickly jarred awake to see that it was Ulrich who had done it while walking backwards in front of Jim.

"Are you alright?" he asked me.

"He doesn't look very good Stern. We might need to take him to the hospital," Jim said.

"XANA..." I managed to breathe out to Ulrich.

"Did he say something about 'XANA?' What is that?" Jim asked.

"I think he's pretty out of it. He doesn't look very good," Jeremy said.

"I suppose so, but... it's a little weird," Jim said. But he decided to leave it alone and we continued towards the infirmary. Jim picked me up and placed me on one of the hospital beds, but I couldn't even feel or hear anything that was near me cause I felt so out of it.

"Morgan? Mr. Morgan? Can you recall what attacked you?" I heard Nurse Yolanda asked.

"Yes. A man. He... obviously came prepared. He's very dangerous," I told him.

"How dangerous?" Jim asked me. I could see that the others quickly ran off and I restrained myself from smiling in victory. At least they knew now.

"I recommend locking all students in their rooms until the police get here," I breathed out.

"I'll keep watch over him in case the man comes back. See if you can get the message out to the staff. We need to get the students to safety," Jim said.

"I'll certainly do my best," Nurse Yolanda said before I could hear her heels clicking as she walked. Though it sounded much more faint than it should've sounded like. I decided to go ahead and fall unconscious, but Jim shook me awake.

"You're not supposed fall unconscious when you're injured like this," he told me.

"That's with a concussion Jim. I don't have one of those," I told him.

"Really?" he questioned. I laughed lightly and that woke me up a little.

"Yes. Yes, that's how it works," I told him.

"I thought that was how it worked with all serious injuries," Jim said.

"No, it's not. Though I'd say the person's ability to stay conscious measures their chances. I'd say I'm doing pretty well," I said as I blinked really fast a few times.

"Are there any wounds that I can wrap up?" Jim asked me.

"There's the burn mark on my chest. Just..." I grunted as the pain from my chest cut me off. "...just make sure to wrap it tight."

"I think I should put something on it first," Jim said. I unconsciously smiled as I remembered something that sort of applied to this situation.

"If there is any, can you hit my wound with some of that _ointment_ tho?" I said, laughing at the memory. (If you've seen the video, you know what I'm talking about) I never knew why, but I thought it was so funny.

"Um... yeah. I'll see what's in her cabinets," Jim said, obviously confused by my emphasis on the word and my laugh. It's alright. Everyone from this place would be cause I didn't think YouTube existed here. Even if it did or something relating to it, they didn't have the specific video I was referencing.

"Well, she did in fact have ointment for burns. But this looks... way too severe to be average," Jim said before poking it. I hissed in pain and smacked his hand away.

"Don't poke at the damn thing!" I told him.

"Watch your mouth," Jim immediately told me. I looked at him disbelief.

"You're not the one with a burn mark the size of a football on your chest. Cut me a break," I said, leaning back in the pillow. "Just treat the wound before I do it myself."

"Just where are you parents?" Jim asked.

"Gone. Any more prying questions you'd like to ask me? How about why Yumi's parents had to sign my admission into this school, or..."

"I get your point. I'm sorry for asking in the first place," Jim said, looking at me with something akin to pity. The look itself made me turn away with slight irritation.

"Just treat the stupid burn mark," I told him with a low voice.

"You seem awfully calm for someone who has one of the worst burn marks I've ever seen," Jim said as he turned the top of the tub of ointment.

"It's definitely the worst one I've had. But I'm not that worked up about it. Why even waste the time being stressed out about something that'll mull over soon?" I questioned. Even though though I was still slightly worried about XANA's puppet becoming a nuisance. It was more likely he had gone to the factory to stop them, but I was half afraid that he would come back here to finish me off.

"That's certainly not average," Jim said as he coated two of his fingers with ointment and started rubbing it in circles on the burn mark.

"It's not, but I'm weird. So it's normal for me, which half doesn't make sense, but whatever," I said before sighing in relief that the ointment brought me. It definitely helped with the burning sensation.

"Excuse me young man. Where are you going?" I heard a teacher say from outside of the door. I was focused on what was going on out there rather than my wound. But I heard no response from the student he was addressing. I had a sneaking feeling that it was XANA, and I wasn't going to take the chance.

"Wrap this wound now. And hide," I told Jim quickly.

"Why?" he asked me.

"Do it!" I hissed at him before sitting myself up. He quickly grabbed a large bandage and spread it across my burn mark. I then gestured for him to hide under the bed while I took the closet. I quickly walked over to the closet and addressed Jim immediately.

"No matter what you think of him, do not get from up under that bed," I told him before closing the doors to the cabinet while I was in it, crouching to ensure that I couldn't be seen through the small holes. Being small definitely had an advantage in certain situations. And luckily for me, this was a big cabinet.

I perked up my ears to try and listen for anything going on outside, but I got nothing. That was disappointing. So I was forced to wait. God, it felt like such an Outlast moment just sitting here and waiting, hoping that you would be alright. Granted, that was just a game. This was real, so the feeling was ten times more intense.

I couldn't hear anything, and that just made me all the more paranoid. So I decided to slowly make my way into a standing position and look through the open spaces that were in the cabinet and I could see that XANA's host was standing directly in front of the cabinet, already waiting as if he knew I was there.

"Son of a-" I didn't even get to finish my sentence as the cabinet door was yanked off and I was immediately grabbed by my throat. I immediately reacted with several right hooks to his face, but he seemed to take them like they were nothing. I didn't have that much force in my punches to make this motherfucker feel pain. Hitting nerves and bodily force seemed like the way to go.

But before I could move, electricity started traveling through my throat and I yelled from the pain of it. I could feel the skin on my neck beginning to burn from the sensation and it was WAY more intense than the pain on my chest. It felt like an intense struggle to breath. But maybe that was from his choking me as well as shocking me. And I couldn't do anything but try to uselessly pry his hand off my neck and scream and convulse in absolute agony.

"Get off him!" I heard Jim yell before he grabbed XANA's host off me and German Suplexed him into the wall behind him. Normally I would've take the moment to admire that feat and say "Damn son" if it didn't feel almost impossible to breathe. My breathing was far from steady. It came out in raspy, intense gasps that hurt every time I did it. I had tears in my eyes from the pain, and I can't say it was going to get any better at this point.

"My God... We need that hospital ASAP," I heard Jim say as I felt him pick me up and started running me out of the room. I stroked the burned part of my throat as if trying to find a way to ease it, but I trembled and spasmed as I did it because it was pain that I had never known in my life. Now I was scared for my life. Because this was something that I knew was very serious. And if I didn't get almost immediate treatment, I was going to die here.

"Jim!" I could hear Ulrich exclaim.

 _"So he's the one who decided to stay behind, huh? How kind of him,"_ I thought as I kept stroking the burned part of my throat, still trying to give it some relief. But it seemed the only sensation my throat knew was pain. I knew for a fact that XANA had caused problems with my breathing from that electrical shock, and it could only go downhill from here.

"Stern! You're supposed to be in your dorm! Did you not hear what the principal said?" Jim told Ulrich sternly.

"How is he?" Ulrich asked, completely disregarding Jim's question.

"That person, that electric Spiderman guy or whatever shocked his throat. I'm amazed he's still breathing after that," Jim said.

"He doesn't look like he'll be breathing for long if we don't get help," Ulrich said. Then I could smile as I heard sirens in the distance.

"Why do the authorities take forever when you really need them?" I questioned as my head lolled to the side. I managed to put my hand to my chest, and felt that my heartbeat was in fact slower than usual. Oh, that was not good in the slightest. I'd say I was minutes from death.

"That is a very good question. At least they're almost here," Ulrich said.

"I don't think... I have... too much... time..." I slowly breathed out. To be honest, I should've been dead. I really should've been dead by now. But somehow, I was still clinging on to life. Like I was bonded to the earth through immortality. Though we all knew that wasn't true.

I saw Ulrich move away from me and take his phone out and walk away to call Jeremy I could assume. I just sat here in Jim's arms, feeling as my throat was slowly closing up on itself, my breathing compensating for it too. It had become even harder to breathe. It hurt to even draw a breath and when I did draw one, it hurt.

 _"This is the end of me,"_ I thought as I slowly closed my eyes. But the thought barely got out I could see white approaching. I laughed before the white took the world. Of course I was saved.

As I returned to the past, I was taken back just this morning. But I immediately went over to my window and had to climb over my desk to get over to it. I immediately opened it and started vomiting my guts out. This particular Return to the Past was very much sickening for my health, and I hated it. But hey. I was alive when I should've been dead. I can't really complain.

But I saw that the watch Emily had given me was not on my wrist. Guess it didn't come back with me. Then, with a smile, I realized that I had all the opportunity to prepare for this better. I opened my drawer and took out a fair amount of the money I had out of it. I set it on the dresser before moving to get dressed.

* * *

I was readily tapping my foot on the ground as a way to try and distract myself while I was waiting for Emily to walk in the room. I held the item in my hand with an iron grip. I could help but feel nervous even when I knew the result. Just the waiting was positively grueling.

When Emily had finally walked in the room, looking around to try and spot me, I let out a breath that I didn't realize I was holding in before I walked up to her.

"I got something to tell you," we said at the same time. We both chuckled awkwardly, and I rubbed the back of my head nervously before gesturing to her.

"Alright, you first," I told her. She held out a box with a small nervous look and I smiled upon looking at it. It was still a sight that made my heart race regardless having been through it again.

"I can assume this is a Valentine's Day gift?" I questioned with a small smile as I was looking at the box she handed me.

"How'd you guess?" Emily said with a nervous laugh. But I could tell it was rhetoric.

"Call it a guess. You know you're the first one to give me a Valentine's Day present that didn't come from kids in elementary school?" I said with a small laugh. Though now when I thought about it, it was kinda depressing.

"Really?" Emily questioned.

"Really," I said, rotating the box as I held it in my hands. "It feels good. It really does."

"Open it," Emily said softly. I opened the box up and out came the watch. I smiled upon looking at it before looking back at Emily.

"Thank you. I love it," I said before I hugged her. I couldn't really give her my authentic reaction, but I could certainly give her my thanks the best I could. "Now... I have something for you."

"You got me something?" Emily said with a surprised tone.

"Of course I did. You definitely deserve it," I said, handing her a box. "Happy Valentines Day." Three words I never expected to come out of my mouth any time soon. But other than almost dying, today was a great Valentines Day. Better than all the rest.

Emily smiled when she looked at the box. She slowly reached a hand out to grab it and she looked at it for a few seconds before opening it. The gasp that she let out when she opened it made me smile.

In the box was a promise ring. It was a shiny silver ring with redirected curves rather than the straight pattern of a normal ring. At the end of the curves, they held two stones. One was a sapphire, which was her birthstone which directed from the first curve. The other was a moonstone, which was directed from the second curve and was a stone for my birthday. Not only that, but our names were engraved on the specific curves that led to our birthstones. There was also a statement imprinted on the inside. "Bonded by loyalty." I grinned at her agape expression as she looked at the ring.

"Like it? The statement was all me. Because this ring means that I will try my damnedest to be the best man that I can be for you. Forget being your valentine," I said, deciding to make it more personal and get down on one knee. "Do you want to be my girlfriend?"

My heart thumped hard against my chest just from saying the word "girlfriend." I could safely say I have not had many of those. So I was going all out on this one. I was taking this seriously. And I prayed to the Holy God that lived above me that I could make it last. Don't let XANA or anything else tear us apart.

"Why are you crying?" I asked as I saw her wipe tears with a smile on my face. I felt good if those tears were happy tears.

"This is too much," Emily said.

"I'm waiting for an answer," I said, a playful tone in my voice.

"Yes. Most definitely," Emily said, forcing me to stand up and hug her as she pretty much ran into me. I held her tight with my eyes closed, and I felt good. She could feel my heart thumping against her, but nothing matched the feeling of relief and happiness that I felt that I got when she said yes.

Then I heard cheering. Me and Emily released each other in our embrace and looked over to the side. A lot of the class had walked in the door, my friends included and they were clapping. I could see ecstatic looks on the faces of my friends and smiles on the faces of students I didn't even know. Even the teacher was clapping.

"That was honestly one of the sweetest things I have ever seen a person of your age tell to a girl. I congratulate you both," the teacher said. I smiled and gave him a respectful nod.

"Thank you sir," I said.

"But in case you forgot, we still have class, and the last time I checked, Miss LeDuc does not have this class," the teacher said. I looked towards her, and her expression was sheepish. But I gave her a quick kiss on the lips while a smile was on my face. I felt slightly embarrassed, but I felt to happy to care about it.

"We have time. Get to class," I said, ushering her towards the door. The students moved aside as one when she headed out of the door. I saw her stop and looked back and me and gave her a nod while my smile was still glued on my face. She nodded back before running off. I couldn't stop grinning as I sat down to take my seat for the class.

"Well. Done," Odd said as he passed me. And there was no teasing in his tone. It was genuine.

"Thanks," I said to him.

"I'm happy for you man. Even though you suggested that I go for her." Ulrich whispered the last part. My smile got even wider.

"Hey. I got needs too," I told him. He smirked before going to take his seat.

"I'd definitely say congratulations are in order," Jeremy said with a smile.

"Thanks. It feels good. It really does. In a way I can only feel, but can't explain," I said as I turned to a grinning Aelita. "I assume you're offering congrats as well?"

"You guessed it. Now, all I know is that you better be treated right," Aelita said, giving me a semi-serious look.

"Princess is right. After something like that, she better treat you like a king," Odd said.

"Just don't forget to treat her like a queen," Jeremy said.

"I got it. I know exactly what to do. Like I told her," I said, putting her watch on my wrist. "I'm going to be the best man I be for her."

* * *

A/N: And there it is! I loved writing this chapter. Of course I was going to build a relationship in this story. You should've known that was coming sooner or later. I just love to mix romance with violence, action, and suspense. It's so fun. And to be honest, I might not be THIS confident when it comes to doing something like this for a girl, but hell, I'd definitely do my best. Confidence with women isn't my strong point, but hey. At one point, I might get over it. Anyway, hope everyone enjoyed this long ass chapter. I almost broke 10,000 words. Damn. _So_ close.


	14. Chapter 14 - Party Time

Episode References: Final Mix

* * *

"How'd I even get roped into helping you all?" I questioned as I was lifting a heavy speaker to its right location.

"Your girlfriend talked you into it, remember?" William told me across the room. He had really good hearing. But yeah. He was right. I just remembered the conversation I had with Emily a few days ago that involved a whole lot of flattery that somehow worked. I really needed to focus better. I was losing my edge to be able to say no to anyone I wanted to.

After I set the speaker up in the right place, I heard a loud clang that made me jump and look over to the side. William ended up dropping the mixing board.

"Oh, no. I don't believe this," William said, holding up a broken part. I walked over to him and examined a broken piece. This seemed familiar...

Then with a smile, I remembered. This was when Aelita realized she had talent musically. I remembered it now.

"So is it really true, huh? The principal gave the techno party the green light?" Odd questioned, walking up to us.

"Looks like it yeah," William said.

"Wow. Smoking, huh? The best DJs from all the local schools will be there. It's gonna be a blast!" Odd said.

"We're not blasting anything. The mixing board is hammered. I can't figure out how to fix it," William said, trying to fit two pieces together. I was stayed silent the entire time because it was going to play out to work out just fine. I knew that.

"Hey, no problem!" Odd exclaimed, clapping William on the back. "We'll ask Jeremy. He's Mr. Fix It. He can fix anything."

"You think so?" William questioned.

"Yeah!" Odd assured him.

"No!" Jeremy exclaimed once we asked him. I face palmed.

"That was over awfully quick," I said dryly.

"I've got better things to do with my time than play around with a mixing board," Jeremy said. I glanced towards Aelita out of the corner of my eye, who just looked up from her book.

"Hey, maybe I can help," she said.

"Would you?" Odd asked.

"Uh, but, what about our research on your anti-virus?" Jeremy asked, making me roll my eyes. He really wouldn't stop going on about that. It was either everyday or every other day.

"I'm just sitting around watching you at this stage," Aelita said, snapping her book shut.

"Great, come on!" Odd exclaimed, quickly gesturing for us to follow him before immediately walking out of the door. I shook my head as I stuffed my hands in my pockets and followed Odd out of the door, Aelita right behind me.

"What about the science final? Don't you ever study?" Jeremy questioned.

"It's in the bag!" Odd yelled back.

As I followed Odd back to the gym, I went over in my head how exactly to fix the thing. My mind suddenly went into a mindless whir. I began going over the details for the broken mixing board and what exactly to fix. From a fall impact, none of the wires would be damaged, so that would make it totally fixable if the appropriate tools were given. It was more of a hands on thing, but I was be confident I'd be able to fix it if I tried.

"You look deep in thought," Aelita said.

"You're starting to know me a little too well," I said idly.

"Well, I make it a rule to know a little something about all my friends. You included," Aelita said.

"Same thing goes for me when it comes to all of you," I told her.

"What are ya thinking about?" Aelita asked.

"Things," I said with a teasing tone. Aelita lightly swatted me on my arm before laughing lightly.

"Alright, I'll leave you to your thoughts this time. As they don't seem to be troubling you," she said. I bowed dramatically.

"Why thank you," I said. We arrived to the gym and I held the door open for Aelita as we walked in.

She then started to get to work on the mixing board. As I watched her, I knew that I could do this myself at this point. Not to undermine Aelita's talent or to hold mine too high, but I felt like it was just a fact. I felt like I could've actually repaired that thing. Thanks Lyoko.

"So then, this is the thing that makes the music?" Aelita asked as soon as she finished screwing in the last thing.

"That's it," I said, leaning on the side of the table.

"You play the records on the turntables. The board mixes one song with another. The trick is synchronize the sound," Odd said, adjusting the knobs.

"Interesting," Aelita said.

"It doesn't sound like you know an awfully a lot of about it," William asked.

"She doesn't have to know to fix things. She's just that good," I said with a smirk. Aelita smiled at me before backing up from the board while holding her hand out to it.

"I'm done," she said.

"Mind if I give it a try?" William asked, pulling out a record. He hit a button the the machine and set the record down before putting on his headset and trying the machine out. A smile came to his face within seconds.

"Hey, it's working! Aelita, fantastic! Wanna give it a try?" William said, handing the headset to her.

"Well, yeah. Why not?" Aelita said, placing the headset to her ears. I had a smile on my face as I watched her mess around with the dials. Music started flowing through the speakers and I started nodding my head to the beat. It was a really catchy tone.

"Wow! I've never managed to get that kind of mix," William said. I had a smirk on my face as I watched Aelita mess around with the board, her face alight with a type of entertainment that none of us had really seen. Then it stopped.

"The hell?" I questioned. "It was getting good."

"Hey, you goof offs!" Jim exclaimed. "Don't mind me. Do you know what time it is by any chance?"

"Hey, we're really sorry Jim. We were rehearsing for tomorrow night. Do you like techno?" Odd asked, stepping down from the steps. I leaped down from the elevated position, which was my way of saying, "Fuck those steps."

"Forget about it. Electronic music. I prefer The Twist," Jim said, making me snicker. "I assume you're with them about this electronic music thing?"

"I like it, but it's not my preference. I'm more of a heavy metal, rock type of guy. I just love to be able to sit down, kick back, and rock my head to a sick beat with some decent lyrics," I said. Jim gave me a "mmph" sound before walking back out of the door.

"You really mix like a pro. Where'd you learn?" William said. I could hear Aelita stammering for and answer, so I decided to do it for her.

"Nowhere. That was her first time on a board," I said, turning back to the two. William looked at me with a subdued expression before looking back at Aelita.

"Really?" he asked her. Aelita looked at me and I smiled before nodding.

"Yeah, it really was. I thought it'd be fun to try out at the time, but I didn't think I would actually come up with something good," Aelita said.

"Well, you're definitely a natural. I'll make a selection of LPs, and you can be our DJ tomorrow night. Ok?" William questioned, holding a few records up.

"You think so? Well, um... ok," Aelita said, her voice excited.

"Great! We'll see you then," William said, walking out of the gym. Aelita looked at the smile that I didn't even bother to contain.

"You knew about this, didn't you?" Aelita asked.

"Of course I did. I could've fixed the board myself, but then this wouldn't have happened. You have a talent in music. I fully support you, and I know that you should build on it," I told her with a smile. Aelita gave me a grin before tackling me with a hug like she tends to do with all of them.

"Thank you. I know I would discover this even if you weren't here, but... it feels good that you believe in me," she said.

"Of course I do. That's how I do things," I told her before turning to Odd. "We ought tell the others about this little development, don't you think?"

"Of course we do. It'll be easier if we find everyone separately," Odd said.

"I want to tell Jeremy myself," Aelita instantly said. Odd nodded with a grin.

"Alright, you want to be the one to tell Lover Boy. In the meanwhile, you and I can go find Ulrich and Yumi and tell them about it. Then we can warm up for the party tomorrow," he said, jogging out of the gym. I made to follow him, when Aelita grabbed my arm. I looked at her with a curious look as her expression seemed to look relatively serious.

"What are you doing? If I'm going to go tell the others, I need to have access to all of my limbs," I joked.

"I want you to come with me to tell Jeremy," Aelita said. I gave her a puzzled look at the request.

"Why's that? It's not hard to tell him that you have to change plans for tomorrow," I told her.

"I know that. But it'll be easier to break it to him. You and Ulrich are the smooth talkers of the group. Either one of you are the best candidates to help break the news to Jeremy. He's probably going to be disappointed," Aelita said, making me raise an eyebrow at her.

"Are you trying to soften me up with flattery?" I questioned. Aelita gave me a hopeful expression with a small pout. Damn, she pulled off that look so well.

"Depends. Is it working?" she asked.

"Worked with Emily, and now it's working with you. Next thing you know, Odd'll be convincing me to do stuff," I said. Aelita laughed lightly.

"I wouldn't go that far. Come on," Aelita said, gesturing for me to follow her out of the door. I frowned. I knew for a fact Aelita didn't ask any of the others to come with her when going to tell Jeremy. She didn't worry about it at all. So why was this any different?

* * *

"You're wasting your time with this party," Jeremy said when we, or more Aelita told him what she was doing.

"I am _not_ wasting my time. I'm trying to live. Like you guys. And have some fun. A good time. That's human too, isn't it?" Aelita said. I put a hand on Jeremy's shoulder, but his eyes never left the computer screen.

"Jeremy, this is good for Aelita. She finally found something she was good at, and she's building up off that. You should come too. Have some fun. Let's face it. This party will be the most fun Aelita's had in a while," I told him.

"He's right. I need this party," Aelita said. For the first time, Jeremy looked back at us.

"You mean you don't have a good time researching the anti virus?" he asked. I had to face palm at those words.

"How wo-" I was cut off by an angry Aelita.

"You're as stubborn as a fool! At least I have people who support me, like Robert!" she exclaimed, storming out and slamming the door. I raised my arms while looking back at the closed door.

"Why the hell do I have to be involved in your little lover's quarrel?" I questioned before shaking my head. "At this point, I'm talking to the door." I turned back to Jeremy, and he looked confused. I could've sworn he was playing me for a fool, but he wasn't.

"I do not understand," Jeremy said. I raised my hands in surrender.

"Hey, if you don't, then I don't know what I can tell you that'll get you to understand," I said, heading out of the door. I walked back outside, and looked over the numerous amount of students. I spotted Emily talking with one of her friends. I was about to walk over to them and ask her about something I asked her to do when the bell rung. I immediately stopped in my tracks and directed myself over to Mrs. Hertz's class.

"Hey Ulrich," I said, walking up to the two.

"Hey. I heard you're the one who got Aelita into mixing. That was nice of you," Ulrich said.

"She would've discovered it anyway. All I had to do was let it happen," I told him before cracking my neck. "I'm ready to get this exam over with already."

"You're telling me," Ulrich said.

"I didn't study at all," Odd said proudly. I looked at him with a bewildered expression.

"Are you crazy? Not only is the exam supposed to be crazy difficult, but it's worth a lot of points too," I told Odd.

"You sound just like Jeremy," Odd said, making me frown. "It's like I told him. It's in the bag."

"So you're going to cheat. Of course," I said, walking closer to the line. Wait, why was there a line?

"What's going on?" I asked Sissi. I didn't feel as disgusted talking to her. Why bother? I have no time to hold resentment for anyone.

"Inspection by G.I. Jim," Sissi said, pointing to the top. I could see him throwing bags to the side and only taking out one writing utensil for them to use. I looked towards Odd, who looked more worried.

"Ouch. That's an unexpected development," he said, making me grin.

"Good luck on the exam Odd," I said with an evil laugh. God, this was going to be good.

"You have two hours for physics, and two hours for chemistry. My colleagues and I will collect the exams this afternoon. After that, the principal himself will announce the results," Mrs. Hertz said as she was passing out papers. "You may begin."

Immediately, I had started scribbling on my paper, answering several of my questions ahead of time as I was waiting for the go ahead. Thinking about these answers was almost like a transfer; I barely had to think about the question before the answer came to my head. The equations, algorithms, principles and the like were glued to back of my brain.

My pen barely left the space of the paper in between answers. I had my head down lying next to the paper as I took the test like I always tended to do during one. I found my thinking to be a lot clearer, and therefore, a lot more efficient.

"The test is over! Put your pens down and stay where you are while I collect all of your papers," Jim said, walking around. I already had my pen in my pocket over thirty minutes ago and was relaxing the whole time, so there was no point. I wasted my time by fantasizing what it would be like if my parents could see me now. Protecting the world, having a girlfriend, and managing my school work all at the same time. I daresay they would probably be the most proud of me they would've have ever been. That wasn't saying too much since I was far from a remarkable child, but all in all, it's still saying a lot.

"Alright, you're all free to go," Jim said. I immediately stood up and walked out of the class. I started doing various stretches to get rid of the stiffness of sitting in that chair for four hours.

"Are you about as stiff as me?" Aelita asked, stretching her wrist by flicking it back and forth.

"A few moments ago, I'm pretty sure I was. Jeez, I was finished with that test so early, I could've walked to town and gotten something to eat," I said, cracking my neck.

"I'm sure you could've. The test was cake for me as well," Aelita said. I wasn't going to bring up the subject of Jeremy cause I knew she was still probably mad at him, so I decided to focus on a different subject.

"Enough of grueling tests that cause our buttocks to fall asleep," I said, making Aelita giggle. "You ready for tonight?" The smile that she had on her face from her giggle immediately turned into a nervous look.

"I don't know. I'm honestly not sure about this a little. I know you said I was good at it, but..." I put a hand over my heart and leaned back while looking at her with an offended expression.

"You think I was lying to you?" I asked.

"Well, maybe? I don't know. I'm really nervous about this," Aelita said.

"Don't be," I said before drawing my bag in front of me. "Here. This is the perfect time to give you this." I reached inside it and handed her a wrapped gift. Aelita grabbed it, but didn't open it.

"Don't you think we oughta go inside to open this?" she asked.

"Good point. Next thing you'll know, we'll be sitting in detention for hours cause we accidentally littered," I said, leading her over to the gym. We took position near the gym, with a trash can next to us so the paper would be easier to throw away. She ripped the front of the paper off, and it revealed to be a box for a clothing shop.

"I picked it out, but I had to get some validation from another female. I asked Emily, and she thought it was a good look for you as well," I told her. Aelita glanced at me for a moment before opening the box. The box contained an outfit; More specifically, a dark purple strapless shirt with a black skirt and jewelry to go with it.

"I kinda forgot to get shoes cause I'm forgetful as shit sometimes, but Emily's got some for you. Well, she said she did. Go see her on the girls' floor, and she'll take care of you as well," I said before Aelita tackled me in a hug, making me chuckle. "How many times are you going to do this in my lifetime?"

"Until you stop being so nice. Why did you buy this? This night isn't-"

"It is important. It's your first debut as an artist. I'm just helping you make an impression. New clothes that say, 'Look at me. I'm smart, talented, and drop dead gorgeous.' Plus with the way you're gonna look in that, after tonight, Jeremy's going to regret not being here," I said with a grin. I loved being evil sometimes. Ok, more like all the time.

"Thank you," Aelita said, finally releasing me. She helped me throw away the paper and the both of us walked back to the doors. I walked in my dorm and sat down on my computer to check for XANA just before things happened. My eyes widened as I saw that XANA had indeed activated a tower.

"Are you fucking serious?" I said, snatching my phone that I set on my table and immediately started calling Ulrich. While I had the phone against my shoulder, I started putting on a pair of gloves in hopes a trick I had up my sleeve would work.

"What's up?" he asked over the line.

"XANA, that's what. He's on the prowl," I said, scrambling to get these gloves on.

"Now? Out of all times to do so? Why am I not surprised? Alright, Odd and Yumi are already with me," Ulrich said.

"Jeremy should still be in his room, and Aelita's not too far away getting ready. I'll warn them. Shouldn't take me long," I said, before hanging up and running out of my room. I walked to Jeremy's room, and the door was open. I looked inside to see he was bound by ducktape to his own chair. I walked up to him and snapped the tape off his mouth.

"Well, at least I don't have to slap you to get you up," I said, getting behind him and unconsciously reaching for my swords that weren't there. "Ugh. I'm a little used to having double blades. I should really buy some."

"We'll worry about that later. Right now, get me loose!" Jeremy said, wiggling around.

"Stop that! you're not making it any easier by squirming so much," I said, twisting the tape from side to side to try and wear them down. Eventually, with a hard pull, it came right off. "Ha! Got em!"

"Nice job. No need to question that XANA's after Aelita," Jeremy said, making my eyes widen.

"Get to the factory. I'll get Aelita. I have a sneaking suspicion..." I trailed before running off towards the girls' dorm. I jumped all the way down the steps and I heard a scream once I made contact with the ground. It was from Aelita, but then it was followed by another one from Emily. The fury in me started to build quick. These were two women that were really close to me. You don't mess with them without answering to me.

"Jim! Let Aelita go! What's wrong with you?" Emily exclaimed, pulling on the back of Jim. As I was running towards them, I could see that Jim had turned and was about to hit her when I managed to slide in between them just in time and grab his blow as he was holding Aelita on his shoulder with his other hand supporting it.

"You hurt these girls, you answer to me," I said, hitting his knee to force him to one knee and then hitting him with a side kick to the face as my hands were out to grab Aelita from falling. I checked her neck for a pulse before moving her hair out of her face and sighing in relief. She was alright. Of course she was. XANA needed her, but I couldn't help but worry. I then turned to Emily.

"Take her and run," I said, handing Aelita to her before turning and immediately seeing that XANA had tried to hit me with a right cross to the back of my head. But I laid down prone, turned over really quick, and, with a speed in my feet I didn't know I had, started kicking Jim in the balls with the speed as if I was running up steps. By the grunts of pain he gave off, he really felt these attacks. XANA never gives off grunts of pain usually. I then forced him back with a stand up dropkick to his face.

"I got this," I told Emily when she still hadn't moved yet. "Go! Get yourself and Aelita out of here."

"I'll be back with help," I heard her say before giving off a grunt of effort followed by footsteps. I snapped my hood to my head and tightened my fists while pointing at the possessed Jim, who had just began to rise.

"You hurt Aelita and you tried to hurt Emily. Now I'm going to hurt you," I said, pointing at him with the most precise, yet deadliest look I've ever had on my face. Jim sparked his hands with electricity, and I responded by moving into a combat stance with my fists balled up tight. Jim ran towards me, and I tested the waters by not grabbing the wrist, but grabbing his fist instead. I smirked when I actually saw XANA's face become one of surprise as I wasn't hurt by his electricity.

"Rubber gloves. Rubber negates electricity, bitch. So..." I said before turning his hand quickly and breaking his wrist as well as a few of his fingers before jumping and, with momentum I didn't know I had, started hitting him with a bicycle kick, using his shoulders to gain elevation when I needed to and ending it with a hard boot to the top his head. "...FUCK yo electricity."

I then backflipped away from him with my fists raised. But he didn't move. I smiled. K fucking O. I was getting better at this. Lyoko knowledge was turning me into a black Bruce Lee.

"And that's payback," I said, spitting on the floor to the side of me before turning around and running back out. Granted, it wasn't the payback I really wanted to give XANA if he had a mortal body, but he didn't. And I actually liked Jim, so I wasn't going to totally brutalize him. But I would knock him down. When I ran out the building, I almost ran into Ulrich and Odd.

"I told you to head to the factory," I told them.

"Yeah, but Aelita came along and said you needed help," Odd said. I pointed back into the hallway.

"He's out cold. He won't be going anywhere anytime soon. Let's leg it to the factory. Who knows how much longer we have," I said before dashing out of the door, Odd and Ulrich right behind me.

"You alright? Aelita and Yumi are waiting for you all down in the scanner room," Jeremy said.

"Fine. You two head down there. I'm staying here in case Jim wants a round two," I said, punching my open hand. They nodded and climbed down the ladder before I walking over to the elevator and hitting the button before quickly jumping out. I then pulled out the wires and shut down the elevator.

"That'll buy a few seconds," I said, throwing the wires to the side and standing next to Jeremy. "How are we doing?"

"They're heading towards the factory now. They aren't too far out," Jeremy asked before putting the headset down for a moment. "Listen, I have to ask... is working on the anti-virus really not fun?" I shook my head.

"It's boring as shit. Remember, I've done some of the research with you. I know. But it's a necessary evil," I told him.

"I..."

"Just learn to pay more attention," I said, walking over to sit on the floor with my eyes closed. I sighed and lost myself in my thoughts. A type of bliss that curbed my emotions so I could think clearer. Even though I knew it probably wouldn't be long before XANA showed up.

Then there was a loud bang in this room, and I immediately stood to my feet. I saw that Jim had burst through the alternate way into this room while looking unhurt. That had its drawbacks and its advantages for being in here. For now, it seemed like the drawbacks outweighed the advantages.

"Shall we go at this again?" I said, my hands in a type of karate chop form while my right arm was at my side and my left one directly on my left but slightly curved.

But right as we began to charge at each other, the familiar white from the Return of the Past came into my vision and I was reverted right before the show when I had gave Aelita the gift. That was an odd place to return, but it was fitting.

"This still belongs to you," I said, taking the gift out of my bag and handing it to her. She smiled and took the gift before looking directly at me.

"You'll be here for the show, right?" Aelita asked.

"Of course I will. Probably not gonna dance unless Emily somehow talks me into it. So you might not see my chicken wing skills," I said with a small smile.

"Have you ever actually tried?"

"Not really."

"Then how do you know that you aren't good at it?"

"Cause I just do random stuff. I don't follow a specific style or anything."

"Technically that's all dancing. It's random stuff that just happens to look good to other people," Aelita said, making me smile. I had to admit she had a point there. That _was_ dancing to a T.

"Touche. Touche. You know, I might think about it. You never know," I said before thinking about something I've heard.

 _"Just walk up in there and make up your own motherfucking dance, and see how much fun your goddamn ass have while motherfuckers watching you and shit."_ The ever so eloquent words of Katt Williams. Though I had to admit, I was curious as to where it would be fun. My chances of trying it are a little higher now.

"Don't you have a show to get ready for? Emily is still waiting for you," I told her after I managed to snap myself out of my own thoughts.

"Oh, right! Thank you for reminding me," Aelita said, heading towards the door. But then she looked behind her before going around the corner and smiling. "I certainly hope you find that happiness you want with Emily."

"So do I. And I wish you the same with Jeremy. But he's got to act or I'll begin to think he plays for the other team," I said with a small smile. At Aelita's confused look, I waved a dismissive hand and shook my head. "Don't worry about it. Just go get ready gurl."

"How many times are you going to say it like that?" Aelita said with a laugh as she walked around the corner.

"Until I get tired of it!" I yelled back. And I probably would never get tired of saying it like that. It was a part of my vocabulary now. But as there was nothing else for me to do than to get ready for the party tonight, I walked out of the gym.

* * *

A/N: I realize that rubber gloves might not negate pure lightning, but hey. All shows have some type of unrealistic aspect. This is one of mine. Though I do wonder if it would've worked if they tried it. Either way, I hope you enjoyed this.


	15. Chapter 15 - Mistakes and Fallout

Episode References: The Chips are Down

* * *

"This is hard to believe," Ulrich said, smoothing his hair back out of stress.

"Things like this happen. What can you do?" I said with a small shrug.

"You know how this stuff works. Do you know something? Anything that can help us here?" Ulrich said, making me shake my head solemnly.

"Sorry. I don't know anything about how to fix the situation. My memory is very short when it comes to some scenarios. If you just think how you normally would, it'll all work out in the end. It always does. Look, we need to go before we're late for class," I said, gesturing Ulrich to follow me. I noticed the worried look on his face persisted throughout the whole trip, and I felt bad that I couldn't say or do anything to make him feel better about the situation. He seemed a little better in spirits when I told him that it'll all work out in the end, but not by much.

The day rode out in a sort of gray way: Everything not quite being as cheerful as it usually was. Even me, though I knew everything was going to be alright. Even the downtime in between classes couldn't really change that. I was still quite bummed out even as classes ended.

"So will everything really work out in the end?" Yumi asked me, her tone somewhat hopeful.

"Pretty sure. If everything plays out the way it did the first time, it'll work. Just do what you would normally do in this situation, and you'll be fine," I said, rubbing my forehead.

"You don't sound reassured," Jeremy noticed.

"I'm afraid of the butterfly effect that might happen for my being here. Some things could change at any time, and I have no idea how to counter those problems. It's a big clusterfuck of worry," I said.

"It'll all work out. Besides, I don't think you being here has anything to do Yumi's parents staying or going. If they stay, they stay. If they go, they go," Aelita said in a reasonable voice. I gave her a small smile.

"Well that's a little reassuring. For once, I'm not being sarcastic," I said.

"I don't think I'll ever catch you being sarcastic with Aelita. You just love her too much," Odd said. He said with such casualness, that anyone who was walking by would likely believe him. But this is Odd we're talking about.

"Says the guy who has a weakness for just about every food in the entire world," I said with a snort.

"What can I say? I love food," Odd said.

"You'd marry it if you could," Ulrich said, giving me an idea that made me grin widely.

"How about we hook Odd up with a gingerbread man? Seems like the perfect match, dontcha think?" I said with a teasing grin, making the others burst out laughing at my joke.

"And what are you all laughing at?" Emily said, walking up to us.

"Joking about Odd's unnatural love for food," I said with a smirk. I noticed that Yumi sobered up a little bit at Emily's arrival. She had never quite gotten used to the fact that because I was dating her, that automatically makes her part of the group. She doesn't realize that she isn't fully part of the group until she knows about Lyoko. And I have to hide it from her. I'm eventually gonna have to lie about it at one point. And I hate that. I hate it so much.

"Oh, God. He loves food so much, he should marry it," Emily said.

"That's exactly what I said!" Ulrich exclaimed with a wide smile. Emily pointed between her and Ulrich.

"Ah, see? Great minds think alike," he said. I smiled. It was fun seeing the two interact even though then they didn't work out. Though part of my mind couldn't help but feel an insatiable urge to butt in. But that would be a dick move considering Aelita and I act a lot more buddy buddy than this. To the point where it looks like we're dating without all of the kissing and dates. So I had to curb my emotions. It was a lesson I was going to have to learn, or it'll only get worse.

"Though I must give credit when credit is due. Robert came up with a great follow-up," Ulrich said, making Emily turn towards me and raise an eyebrow.

"Oh? Well let's hear it," Emily said. I smirked.

"How about we get Odd a candy ring and have him propose to a gingerbread man? It'll be the perfect romance," I said, making the others laugh again. Odd's cheeks burned this time around.

"Can you at least say woman?!" he exclaimed.

"No! Cause this is a lot funnier," I said, holding my knees from my laughter. Times like this were so much fun. Stress free and we can have so much fun.

"So anyway, how are the rest of you?" Emily asked.

"Somewhat good," I said.

"Somewhat?" Emily asked.

"I don't want to tell you. It's rather personal for someone I know," I said with a pointed look at Yumi.

"Thank you for respecting my privacy," she said. I rotated my hands and kneeled slightly in an extravagant and flashy bow.

"My pleasure," I said before standing back upright.

"You are a master of bows," Aelita said. I then put my arm near my stomach and started doing low bows to each of my friends in turn.

"Thank you, thank you," I said in a showman's voice. It was incredibly fun.

"Robert. You want to head into town for a bit?" Emily asked me suddenly. I nodded.

"Yeah. I'll see you all later then?" I asked.

"Definitely. Have some fun," Jeremy said.

"Careful Jeremy. They might have _too_ much fun," Odd said with a smirk. I smirked at him before walking next to Emily and putting my hand in her right back pocket before leading us away. But before we got to far, I called out to Odd.

"Oh, we'll be having _loads_ of fun," I told him with a wide smirk on my face the entire time. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see that Odd looked slightly flabbergasted. I didn't really pay attention to the others cause Odd's reaction was my main concern. And I was not disappointed.

I kept my hand in her back pocket the entire time as we walked. And I was not ashamed to keep it there. The fact that she didn't have much butt was not off-putting either. It was to be expected at this age. I had grown into this relationship thing. More sure of myself and more confident. Though I really shouldn't have, but I was really into this.

"A few days ago, you were just like me. Nervous and afraid to do most couple stuff. Now you're willing to stick you hand down my pocket and touch my butt in public. You changed so fast," Emily said as we were walking and her cheeks burned.

"Cause I grew more into this relationship more. I understand better what it's like to be in a relationship. Now that I know we're dating, I'm not ashamed to be close to you. Sure it's perverted to some people, but not to me. It's just natural," I explained to her.

"The fact that you adjusted to that in just a few short days is a bit insane. I..." Her eyes wandered to my arm as I lightly squeezed and her cheeks somehow got even brighter. "Can you please get your hand out of my pocket? That's very distracting." I instantly retracted my hand with no fuss.

"No problem," I said idly. Emily smiled.

"Thanks. I'm not quite comfortable with that, but it's nice to see that you respect how I feel," she said.

"I like you, so I don't dare disrespect you. But make note of this. You disrespect me, I'll disrespect the hell out of you. And that's real," I said, rubbing my irritated nose.

"Wouldn't dream of it. Not at all," Emily said, making me wrap my arms around her right shoulder and pulled her close as we walked.

"Well good. Cause you're too pretty for me to have to disrespect you," I cooed softly. I could feel her lean further into my chest even though I didn't have much of one. I smiled. It was quite a weird way to walk, but it was easier than expected. Plus I loved how it felt. It was a warm feeling that brought butterflies to my stomach.

"So what'd you have planned when we came into town?" I said once we got further into town.

"Truly I just wanted to spend time with you. I don't care where we go," Emily said.

"Then lets get to it," I said, directing us towards a fast food place.

"You know you're definitely gonna have to wash up before we leave, right?" Emily said about halfway through the meal. Couldn't blame her. Regardless of having my girlfriend right in front of me, I didn't hold back when it came to food. Why? What was the point is a better question. No point in hiding how I really eat. If she has a problem with it, she'd say it.

"Yeah, I know. I tend to get messy when it comes to hand foods. There are just some foods that are hand foods. Burgers and fries are hand foods to me. But I'll make sure to wash my hands," I assured her.

"Good. I don't want to smell old food on you when we leave this place," Emily said.

"That won't earn me me anything. Cause I think you want to cuddle with me, not ketchup and burger grease," I said dryly. She giggled and my heart sped up from excitement. That always tended to happen when it came to making girls laugh. It was always a fun experience. Hell, making people laugh in general was fun. But I never quite got that excitement that I did just now.

"I'm curious. What are your views on paying for dates?" I questioned her.

"What do you mean by my views?" Emily asked me. I bit my bottom lip. This kind of view could end up with us being at odds here, but it needed to be addressed.

"Some people have this view that when a couple goes on dates, men are _obligated_ to pay for dates. Personally, I think it's a boatload of shit. I don't think we're obligated to pay. We do it because it's the polite thing to do. We do it because because it's common courtesy. I'm curious as to what you think about that," I said with a serious frown on my face as I pulled money out of my wallet.

"That's actually a pretty serious question. Much more so than I'd expect from you," Emily said as I idly stood there waiting for her answer. "Well, simply put, I can definitely agree with you there."

"Enlighten me more," I said.

"Well, men definitely don't have to pay, but it's more of a matter of _should_ they," Emily said, making me raise a curious eyebrow. My attention was definitely peaked.

"Go on," I urged her. She looked positively nervous at the conversation, and so was I as a matter of fact, but I know some things we wouldn't necessarily agree on. This would probably be one of them.

"Well, I believe that a guy should in fact pay for a date the first few times. But in any case if the guy actually asks or they happen to be a little low on money, the girl should chip in if she has a little money. I mean, I see no problem with it. There's really no need to make a fuss over it," Emily said, making me smile widely.

"Ok. I can definitely agree with that. I'd say..." I said as I put the money down and moved closer to her ear and tried my best to go into a seductive tone. "...you definitely earned some special treatment tonight, hmm?" When I moved my head away from her ear to look at her face, I could see that she was a little red, but not overly so. She probably kind of knew what I meant by that, but not really.

"We just agree on a subject. There's no need to reward me for it," Emily said. I put the money down on the table and grabbed her hand before leading her out.

"I know. But I but I want to. I love a girl who thinks other than how things used to be. You're focusing on the here and now. I appreciate people like that," I told her, wrapping my arms around her as we walked out of the door.

We spent the day in a type of idleness; Not really going places, but kind of enjoying each other's company. Stopping at parks and the occasional activity. It wasn't really a date thing. It was more like we were hanging out like friends do, but we were making out at various locations. This was a relationship I liked. One where I didn't have to spend money every time for us to have a good time. It was at the point where we barely made it to dinner when it came. We kind of had to sneak past Jim cause we weren't supposed to be off grounds at this time of night, but we got past him.

"That was close," I said with a small laugh as we dashed inside the cafeteria. Luckily people were so absorbed in their conversations that they didn't notice us come in.

"Yeah, it was. Next time we should really watch the time," Emily said.

"It was a lot more interesting when we didn't, but I'll try to oblige you next time. You hungry?" I asked her.

"A little. You?" she asked me.

"I could eat," I said with a small shrug. But we both went up into the line to get our dinner. Steak and mashed potatoes. It was good stuff. And the best part was that it wasn't like the processed crap I normally got at schools. This was a much better improvement.

As I stepped of the line, I could see that Odd and the others were already situated at a table. I immediately moved over to join them, knowing Emily would find her way over here soon enough.

"There you are. I had to talk Jeremy out of looking at his computer to see if XANA was after you," Aelita said.

"Well, I can assure you I'm alright. More than alright, really. I had a fun night," I said.

"Me too," Emily said, coming up from behind me. I smiled at her before taking a seat at one of the chairs that was open, Emily sitting right next to me. For some reason, Ulrich was not here.

"Any reason why Ulrich's not here?" I asked.

"He said he would be here in a moment. He was writing something," Odd said.

"It's likely that work that Mrs. Hertz gave us for Biology. I finished it during history," I said, biting a piece of steak with a relaxed expression.

"I forgot about that!" Emily exclaimed, slapping a hand to her forehead. I wrapped my arm around her shoulder and pulled her closer while speaking in a reassuring tone after I swallowed my food.

"Don't worry. You know I have you covered. Mmkay?" I said in a crooning tone of voice, rubbing my nose softly against her cheek affectionately. She smiled and wrapped her arms around me in a type of hug.

"Thank you," she said softly. Her soft voice sent a type of shiver up my spine and I started placing soft kisses on her cheek.

"Man, I'm going to barf up what food I ate," Odd said in a slightly disgusted tone. I sat up straight to look directly at Odd.

"How about this. You don't look at us and focus on your one true love, ok?" I said, pointing at his food. Jeremy and Aelita snickered while I went back to my own food. Man, I felt so happy. These recent weeks have been the best. Having Emily just made them even better. I felt more like a human on this earth rather than a mindless zombie that just existed.

After dinner, I said my farewells to Emily before I followed my friend's to Jeremy's room so we could all talk. We had barely talked all day since I was gone most of the day.

"You two were sure out late," Aelita said.

"It's fun being in a relationship. It's like having a best friend right next to you, but you feel more affectionate with them. You open up to them and trade affectionate gestures. There was definitely plenty of hugging and kissing," I told her.

"Did we really come in here to talk about you and Emily?" Odd questioned.

"I'm not the one who brought up the question, Mr. Perceptive. I'm just telling you like it is. But yeah. It's a really rewarding thing. Though I can spend tomorrow with you all. I can find a balance between spending time with Emily and hanging with you," I assured them.

"Good. Cause I don't want to have to fight you just to get you to spend time with us," Aelita said. There was a slight 'm' sound in her voice that I barely caught. But I threw it to the side for my next follow-up.

"Aelita, I loves ya and I care about ya, but I'd kills ya dead before I'd let you beat me," I said, letting out a small laugh.

"Are you joking?" Aelita questioned.

"Of course I am! I was referencing a movie in my dimension. Regardless of how shitty my dimension can be sometimes, there's some good stuff. A lot of that stuff you all won't get, but it's alright. Call it a few private jokes of my own," I said with a small smile.

"You talk about your place like it's the worst," Jeremy said.

"It can be. A lot of the time. Trust me, I don't even want to get into it. But how-" I couldn't finish my sentence as white filled my vision. When I blinked several times fast to gather my bearings again, I was back in my bed in the morning.

"What the fuck?" I questioned as I stood up and looked at myself to make sure this was real. I know we had gone back to the past, but no way XANA got control of it again. At least, I would hope not. This was not seem good. Not good at all.

I quickly got dressed and met the other in the middle of the courtyard with the absolute urgency. I had to skip breakfast cause this needed to be addressed.

"I know for a fact I'm not dreaming," I said as I was putting my jacket on when I approached the others.

"If it is, it's more of a nightmare," Odd said.

"You got that right. Who knows what tricks XANA has up his sleeve now that he got this trip for free?" I questioned.

"You think he got control of the Return to the Past function again? He's done it before," Yumi said.

"No. I made a special program so he couldn't," Jeremy said, typing on his computer. "No active towers. This is really weird."

"We ought check out the Supercomputer. Something could be malfunctioning or out of place. The program wouldn't much it that case," I suggested.

"Good idea," Jeremy said, closing his laptop.

"What about your romantic day with Emily?" Odd teased.

"This is more important right now," I said with a stolid look. "Plus I have plenty of opportunities for that. Does no good to repeat the same day. I didn't even get proper sleep so I could come up with a different idea, so yeah. There are some advantages to this as well as disadvantages."

No more had to be said at that point. We had a goal and we had to get it done. I had to move through the next class to hurry and head to the factory with Jeremy and Aelita. It seem like we were the only ones who usually went for the dirty work, but I was fine with that. It was satisfying being around two intellectuals. Even if I couldn't really call myself that, it was nice.

"I'll run an analysis on the computer," Jeremy said, typing furiously on a computer. I had my eyes glued to the screen as Jeremy was typing while deep in thought. I'm now realizing that I actually didn't know a lot about a lot of Code Lyoko. At least in a majority of episode plots. Granted I hadn't watched the show in a while, but it was still noted.

"Nothing's wrong with any of the machinery," Jeremy said.

"Then what's the problem?" I asked.

"That _is_ the problem. I don't get it. It was as if someone set off the Return to the Past from here," Jeremy said.

"That's more than likely what happened," I told Jeremy. "But how? XANA's not active."

"Unless... it was one of us," Aelita said. I looked at her with a curious look.

"Who do you figure?" I asked before figuring out the most likely candidate myself. "You wouldn't suppose..."

"Seems like he was the most likely one to do it. Yumi's dealing with family problems of her own and Odd's been with us all day. If we hadn't returned to the past, I'm sure Emily could attest to you being with her all day. And I know for a fact one of us didn't do it," Aelita narrowed down with her fingers. Her logic made complete sense. It had to be Ulrich.

"Just what was his motive out of the whole thing though? What did he have to gain from returning to the past?" I asked.

"That's a good question. It's something that needs to be addressed," Jeremy said, immediately standing to his feet. I looked at my watch and saw that our next class was about 16 minutes away from having to head to our next class.

"We have time to ask him about it. Class isn't for another few minutes," I said.

"Then that's exactly what we'll do. Come on," Jeremy said, walking towards the elevator.

* * *

"Hi," Ulrich said, walking up to us.

"Hi Ulrich," Jeremy said, his words harsher than normal. "You know, I'm really impressed with your computer skills."

"Who, me? But I don't know much about computers other than the Return to the Past function," Ulrich said. I sighed.

"But that's exactly it. We know you went back to the past for this," I said, holding up the winning ticket that started all this shit. Yumi had come down here and cleared up a few things for us. Now it was apparent. He listened for the lottery numbers on the radio, wrote them down, returned to the past, and cashed the ticket in so he could give it to Yumi's parents so she wouldn't end up moving. It was a sweet gesture. I'd admit that any day. But it was also a dangerous one.

"I only did it for you Yumi," Ulrich said, looking at the girl in question. "So she could stay." I sighed. I felt like every time he was stepping forward, he was taking those exact same steps back when it came to certain things.

"Dude, that's just it. We only Return to the Past in extreme cases. This was not one of them. They still were not quite sure what they were going to do yet. This was an irresponsible move on your part. You have to learn to think rationally sometimes," I told Ulrich.

"You broke rule number one Ulrich. I can't believe you," Odd said. "Why didn't you talk to us first? Why do you have go sneaking around?" I could easily answer that question. That was just how Ulrich was. To be honest, regardless of the intention, it was a snakelike quality to have.

"I'm sorry," Ulrich said in a soft tone.

"It's too late for sorry. You betrayed our trust," Jeremy said roughly. Yumi grabbed the ticket from my hand and crumpled it into a ball before dropping it at Ulrich's feet.

"Here. You can take back your dumb ticket. My parents think you should keep the money," Yumi said, walking away. I watched her walk away with a frown on my face. Even if his actions were inexcusable, that was an awful cold attitude to have for something that he was doing for her. I was becoming more reinforced with the fact that Yumi felt more like an acquaintance than a friend. Cause there were many things I disagreed on her with and many actions that I deemed rather unnecessary. We shared a few laughs and risked each other's lives for our friends and others of the world, but that didn't make her a friend.

"As of now, and until you hear otherwise, you're out of the group Ulrich," Jeremy said, walking away. Speaking of things I had a problem with, I looked towards Jeremy with a look similar to a wild eyed expression of a crackhead before running towards him and halting him.

"Hold on, hold on. That makes no sense. Not in the least bit. Yes, I realized that Ulrich used the Return to the Past unjustifiably, but whether he broke that rule or not, keeping him out of the loop is not what we need right now," I told Jeremy.

"Ask yourself these two questions. What's to stop him from doing it again? And just what else do you propose I do? He betrayed the trust of the group," Jeremy said, walking away without giving me time to respond. As if I would have to think on those questions for a while.

But I knew there was no point in arguing. It was likely the whole thing would be put to a vote, and even if Aelita agrees with me, we'd be beaten three to two. That would solve nothing.

"Fuck man," I said, rubbing my hands down my stressed face. I then could hear Ulrich give off a grunt of frustration. I turned towards him and held a hand out to him to get him up from his kneeling position to get the ticket.

"You aren't going with them?" Ulrich asked.

"Bad decisions or not, you are my friend. And I don't take what happened as seriously as they did. Maybe I should and I'm just crazy, I don't know. But I'm here," I said, holding out the hand in a more insistent way. Ulrich smiled slightly before taking it and rising to his feet.

"Thanks. I know what I did was wrong, but..."

"The road to Hell is paved with good intentions, Ulrich," I said in a low but deep tone of voice that was not intentional. "A lot of decisions are like that. Doesn't make them right though. I disagree with you going behind our backs, but I do not agree with Jeremy kicking you out of the group. That was just a decision I found rather unnecessary."

"Did I hear that right?" I heard a rather unpleasant voice in my ear say. When I turned around, before I could get a word out, which was more than likely going to be a very angry tone of voice followed by a slew of cuss words, Sissi spoke first.

"I'm not here to fight with you. I'm just generally curious now," she said, looking towards Ulrich. "What'd you do?" I raised an eyebrow. Regardless whether she was a bitch most of the time, she seemed to actually care for Ulrich. Which have been shown in some of the strangest ways on earth.

"I'd rather not say. It's easier on my brain that way," Ulrich said with a sigh, running his hands down his face.

"Then don't say anything. Just find something to take your mind off of it," Sissi said. I raised my eyebrow at her. When I initially think one thing of this girl, she does something to change it. I will never understand females! At least females that act this bipolar.

"And you have something to propose?" I questioned.

"Well, you like practicing Pencak Silat, right?" Sissi asked. I raised my eyebrow at her. Sissi noticed me looking at her with my eyebrow raised and she gave me a half confused, half questioning look.

"What?" she asked me.

"The more I see you, the more you start to confuse me with your actions," I told her.

"You'll never understand me," Sissi said. I believed that. It was perhaps the most honest thing that had ever come out of her mouth. But Ulrich looked towards me with a questioning expression.

"Combat practice in the gym?" he asked.

"Sure. Why not?" I said as we walked towards the gym, Sissi included. To be honest, I was still a little iffed at her, but for some reason, I could tolerate her presence. But who knows how long that would last?

Ulrich changed into the traditional black garb he loves to wear when training while I went with a white gi I bought at a store. It had no belt to come with it since I wasn't at an official dojo to train and earn the belts, but I still had the skills for it.

We took respective positions across from each other about a meter out. I put my left hand on my right fist before before bowing to Ulrich in respect. He did the same only with a more stiff position with his arms at his side and his feet close together before bowing. I then got in my combative position with my hands both in a type of position where only thumb and pinky were still gestured out with my other fingers pointing downward. Ulrich's combative stance was more like his hands were in a position for a palm strike at any time while staying close to his chest.

"Ready when you are," Ulrich said. I nodded before stepping forward with two quick kicks that Ulrich used his arm to block immediately. To get my stance back, I had put the foot I used to kick Ulrich behind me before quickly tightening up. Ulrich likely thought it would take me longer to regather my stance and used the opportunity to try and hit me with a kick to my left side, which I grabbed and pushed Ulrich back hard to knock him onto the ground.

"You're still fighting a little unsafe. I can't punish you if you don't give me a move I can punish. If this was real, the blow would've been a lot harder," I told Ulrich. He nodded and got his stance back before slowly edging closer.

This time, Ulrich was the one to open with an attack as he started lashing out with deft and swift palm strikes at a random interval. I was forced on the defensive, and he was quick enough to the point where I couldn't punish his attack. I could, but I had to focus more on blocking his blows.

It took a few seconds before I was finally able to trap his attacking hands under my arms. But before I could get a headbutt or a kick in, Ulrich swept me up off my feet with a leg and his used his leverage to lean forward and pin me down. I smiled at how intense his face was.

"Niiice," I complimented him. Ulrich smiled before standing up and helping me to my feet.

"Was something I made up on the fly. I was counting on you trying to grab my hands. That was something you tend to do for counters," he told me.

"You think more like that, you'll go far," I said before taking my stance again. "Ready?"

"As always," Ulrich said before I suddenly felt myself being knocked across the gym with my head hitting the brick wall hard, causing my head to start bleeding and stars to enter my vision. Did XANA just really Chris Brown me across the gym? Damn.

I groaned in pain before I sat up to focus on the situation at hand. XANA was in a grapple with Ulrich, which wasn't going to last long as I knew XANA had electricity. And he wasn't afraid to use it.

I immediately got a running start towards the two and I jumped over Ulrich's head before grabbing the possessed Nicholas by his shoulders, flipping in midair while I was holding him, and slamming him hard on the gym floor before kneeing him in the nose with a crunch for good measure.

"He's not dead, but he'll wish he was when he wakes up," I said, grabbing Nicholas and holding him over my shoulders. I then tossed him into the locker room and sealed it the best I could. "That'll hold him for a bit."

"It's all we can get. Where's Sissi?" Ulrich asked, pointing to where the missing girl was moments ago.

"Probably ran to get help. We need to head to the factory though," I told him. He nodded and we instantly started sprinting towards the factory.

 _"The both of us could've been killed out there. Your friends do a real good job in warning you when a homicidal AI is on the prowl,"_ I thought to myself. It had came to me in that moment. When I was half conscious after hitting a brick wall and Ulrich was grappling with a possessed person who was basically an electromancer. And they didn't warn us. Why didn't they warn us?

The whole time I couldn't help but feel this overwhelming rage which was the following result of that poisonous thought. It was sure acting like poison; It was spreading, getting to the point of exacerbation, and seemingly infecting my mindset. And I hated to think what would've happened to me if I was alone or Ulrich if he was alone. We could've both been separated and killed with no way to know that it even happened. And I was mad after thinking about that fact. More accurately, I was pissed. But I knew I had to focus. I couldn't let my anger get the best of me. My performance would suffer because of that.

It took us a bit to make it to the factory cause my head wound slowed me down a considerable amount. Like at times, I had to stop and rest for about ten seconds a few times. I was leaning against the wall with my head gradually growing in pain. Just how hard did I get hit? Did he crack my skull or something?

"You ok?" Ulrich asked me as the elevator door opened. I shook off his hand on my shoulder and shook my head a few times to try and throw my pain off.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I said, looking up at Jeremy. Upon seeing him, I had to bite my bottom lip hard so I didn't say anything venomous to him, but it was kinda hard not to. I wouldn't have been in this shape if he bothered to spare us a call and warn us XANA was attacking.

 _"Thanks Jeremy. We appreciate the warning that you didn't give us,"_ I thought to myself aggressively.

"What happened?" Jeremy asked me.

"You can guess," I said in a gruff tone. It was the best I could do without sounding angry.

"XANA had come down here earlier to screw up the scanners and mess with the virtualization program," Jeremy said.

"So since XANA came after us and not you, you had plenty of time to fix it, right?" Ulrich asked.

"Well, I managed to restore the materialization program, but then again... I didn't see a reason to waste time rebooting the scanners. At least on this end," Jeremy said. Welp, here it comes.

"GODDAMMIT JEREMY!" I bellowed in angry tone, smacking my fist again the hard metal wall. I could feel my knuckles react painfully to hitting the metal, but it was good distraction pain from my anger. Plus my head still hurt like hell. He probably thought I was overreacting way over the top, but he didn't know that I was holding back my real reaction.

"It's fine! It won't take me but a few minutes to boot it back up," Jeremy said, furiously typing on the computer. I wanted so badly to retort to that the way I wanted to. But I wasn't going to start. Not now, not here. There was something more important going on. Though in reality, the importance of both were very comparable in size.

"A few minutes we likely don't have. How long do you figure it took XANA to break through your barrier?" Ulrich asked me.

"Well, it likely took him the time we got here to wake up. Maybe a little more, maybe a little less. And as far the barrier? I'd wager about thirty seconds at the most. And if I'm really lucky," I told him.

"Great. And you look like you're not in much decent shape to fight," Ulrich said.

"I've survived worse. Though in that situation, I was lucky to survive," I said, thinking back to the event on Valentine's Day. Almost became a Valentine's Day killing.

There was nothing to do but wait down in the scanner room as Jeremy attempted to reboot the damned things. I can't believe this bullshit was happening. I was constantly pacing as Jeremy took the time to get the scanners ready.

Once he got them ready, I instantly ran inside the scanner to get inside. Once on the ground, I immediately saw that we had been transferred right in the middle of a firefight. I immediately drew my blades and moved ahead of the group to start deflecting like crazy. It didn't take my long to lose all patience and immediately jump on top of one crab. I started dragging my blade along the crabs as I quickly ran from crab to crab with my Force Sprint. Staying in the order that they were was not helping their situation in the least bit.

As I turned around the do the same thing to the next row, I saw that Ulrich had followed my example and started doing the same thing with his Super Sprint. Only he had clones doing the same thing. It was child's play as we mowed down every crab that was in the immediately. Absolute child's play.

"Nice job," Aelita said as we walked back up to them. My face didn't move from its look that was supposed to be emotionless, but came out stone cold.

"Do we need to Return to the Past?" Jeremy suddenly interrupted. I made an impatient grunting sound and gestured to Ulrich.

"Yeah. Sissi saw everything that happened until she ran off, so it's better that way," Ulrich said.

"Alright. I'm returning to the past now," Jeremy said. It didn't take long for us to be returned back past and I we were transported back to when we were outside, talking during breakfast when we had gotten back via the Return to the Past. I tried to keep my cool, but it was getting harder and harder.

"You ok? You're trembling," Aelita asked me softly.

"No I'm not ok," I said, my voice dripping with venom. The venom that came out of my mouth was a little more than I intended, but I can't say that I regretted it.

"What's with you? We beat XANA. Why do you sound so mad?" Yumi asked.

"It's because I am mad! At all of you!" I yelled, my hands unconsciously flailing towards random directions in my anger.

"What did we do?" Odd asked. I looked towards him sharply, and I could see his right foot almost take a step back. Think I was losing control here. But I was going to let it happen.

"I'll tell you what you did. I had a lot of time to think while on the way over to the factory. And I have to say not warning us about XANA just cause Ulrich happened to fall out of the group was one of the stupidest and irresponsible things I have ever seen. And that's saying something when it comes to you two," I said, pointing to Aelita and Jeremy.

"Everything turned out ok," Yumi said, making me even angrier.

"You're not getting the point! What if it didn't turn out ok? What if either one of us was alone and all of sudden we were ambushed and killed by XANA. Did you ever think of that scenario happening? Huh? HUH?!" I barked. My yelling was starting to draw a crowd, and I dragged the nearest two people by their arms into the building for privacy.

"I realize you were upset, but that's no excuse for doing what you did. We could've gotten killed for you not warning us. And I can definitely say I don't feel like meeting Satan today. Cause Hell is exactly where I would be going if Ulrich had died cause you refuse to warn us about a life threatening situation. Did you even stop to think rather than acting on your own selfish issues?!" I growled. When I got no response, I continued in my tirade.

"Ok. How about explaining what happened to Ulrich to his parents? It's not like you can give them his body. XANA won't exactly give you the time to take it to them. How do you suppose you'll explain it to his parents? You have to lie in front of their face when they ask you where their child is while you have to live with the fact that you got their son killed," I said with a vicious tone.

"Stop it," Aelita said, making me turn towards her sharply.

"Oh, am I getting to you? Am I?" I asked rhetorically.

"Yes!" Aelita exclaimed.

"Good! Cause I'm trying to get it through your thick skulls that you have to think about situations like this better. I'd hate to lose a friend, much less have to lie about it to his parents. Just know that could've happened if I had took your side and not warned Ulrich just like you did. These are hard consequences for your actions. Think about it," I said, walking away from the group and heading up to my dorm. I was emotionally exhausted. I was done for a few hours. I needed to rest my brain.

* * *

A/N: Yeah, things like that are thrown in perspective when you think about it when you're older. If the possessed Nicholas had gone after Ulrich instead of Jeremy, there's a chance that he could've been killed or severely hurt. Which is why the developers likely made that decision. Just stew on that for a bit.


	16. Chapter 16 - Back Together

Episode References: Common Interest

* * *

"Please talk," Aelita said in a tone that was almost begging.

I didn't even look up from my tray as I sat at the table and continued to eat. I was still upset about what happened when it came to them not telling us when XANA was activated. I know it was doing no one any good to be this closed off and pissed, especially considering XANA would definitely try to take advantage of it, but I couldn't help but be upset. Death was very much a possible outcome from their decision. And unlike a lot of things, I take death very seriously.

"We know you're upset, but this is ridiculous!" Odd exclaimed. I looked at him with furrowed brows before looking back down and paying attention to my food.

"It's not ridiculous. I'll forgive you eventually, but even I don't how long. This goes beyond something as simple as a white lie. It's more of an abandonment," I said, taking a bite of food.

"You're being dramatic," Jeremy said in a type of pragmatic voice, but I was looking at him coldly. I thought I would never get that look down even when I was trying, but I was actually able to pull it off with relative ease. Guess it has to with how you were feeling at the time.

"How about this. How about we Return to the Past and I'll let XANA kill me or Ulrich, and then see if I'm being dramatic then, hmm? Oh, wait. I won't be able to cause I'll be _dead!"_ I growled before turning back to my food.

"That is not fair," Yumi said.

"You talk to me about not fair if it happens to you from me or Ulrich. Oh, that won't happen cause we haven't done that to you nor will we ever. Now I remember," I said in a mock tone that was almost a sneer. God, I knew I was being an asshole by doing this, but I have every right to be angry after that crap.

"We're sorry!" Aelita suddenly exclaimed. "Can we just stop fighting?"

"Fighting, we can stop. Me being mad at you, that's going to take a bit," I said.

"Not even after what happened a few days ago? Usually a Lyoko thing clears things up," Odd said.

"When he's the one who created the problem? Hardly," I said, pointing at Jeremy while clenching my other fist.

"How was I supposed to know that it would end up being a bad idea?" Jeremy exclaimed defensively.

"Uh, ask me?" I said rhetorically. "What you fail to understand is that I am still more willing to help. You seem to be under the impression that a falling out is a sign that we should cut off communication through all things, including Lyoko. You could not be more wrong. You're being a lot more idiotic that you really are when you do that."

"I am no idiot," Jeremy said with a slightly angry look.

"I said you're being more idiotic when you do things like that. I did not call you an idiot. Listen to my words before you say something stupid," I snapped.

"What have I walked onto?" Ulrich said, walking up to us with his tray in his hand. I immediately stood up from my seat before facing him.

"I'm done here. You can talk it out with them, because I certainly can't," I said, walking away and storming outside of the cafeteria. I paced the courtyard back and forth for a few minutes to try and calm myself down.

 _"Calm down. Just calm yourself down. You being angry at the others is exactly what XANA wants and needs to make his own opportunity,"_ I told myself.

 _"Have you forgotten what they did? They practically left us to wrestle with death without knowing because they acted like they were so justified in not letting us know we could've died!"_ another part of my brain argued. I couldn't help but get angry all over again after thinking about that, and I had to restrain myself from ripping my head off from the battle that raged in my brain.

The bell rung and I immediately walked off towards my next class. I quickly took a seat near the front of room rather than the seat I normally took with Aelita and tried to convince myself that forgiving them was the best possible choice, but my mind was stubborn. Perhaps the most stubborn it's ever been.

"Have you forgotten Mr. Morgan?" the teacher asked me. I was jerked out of my thoughts as I looked up at her.

"Forgot what?" I asked her as a few students entered the room.

"The seat you chose at the very beginning of the year is your seat permanently. Besides, that's where you normally sit with your friends. What made you want to sit here?" she asked me.

"We're having... issues," I said, refusing to go further on the matter.

"Yes, well regardless of your 'issues' as you put it, your seat is your seat. So take a seat back there. And it's better for you to work it out now. You all were inseparable the moment you got here. Do you really want to give that up?" the teacher asked me. That was a question that really got to the core of things. And the answer came quick.

"Absolutely not," I said immediately.

"Then make the first move and fix things. Trust me, you'll thank me for it later," the teacher said.

"I'll save myself the trouble. Thank you," I said with a small smile in her direction. It's not often you see teachers that give you sound advice for problems that go on in a teen's life. Most of them ignore what you're going through and go on about their business.

"You're welcome. Now get up," she said in a voice that was half stern and half kind. I willingly got to my feet and walked back to the seat I normally sat at. Her words had really helped. Personally, I wouldn't have felt as forgiving as I did now. They were going to be on thin ice for a bit, but I suppose we could get back on speaking terms at the very least.

Then all of a sudden, I heard a shouting in the hall. My attention was immediately peaked as they didn't really start fights at this school, so I stood up and walked outside to see what the fuss was all about. My eyes immediately widened as I saw Aelita unconscious as Jeremy was shaking her to try and awaken her. I didn't even think about it. I just moved and I was at her side quickly.

"What happened?!" I exclaimed.

"I don't know! She just fell over!" Jeremy exclaimed. I gently pulled her from under her arms over to me while supporting her head up on my leg. I put two fingers on her neck and with a jolt that almost stopped my heart, could feel that her heartbeat was faint. And it was not getting any better.

"Call the ambulance," I told him. He wasted no time in pulling out his phone and dialing. A huge panic hit my heart at the thought of leaving off the way we did. When she thought I was mad at her.

But I managed to bring some logic to my brain. She wasn't dead. This was likely another one of XANA's little tricks. She was going to be alright. Yet the guilt continued to eat away at me, and there were very few things in my lifetime that I actually felt guilty about.

"Save our last goodbye..." I silently whispered. The song in question had suddenly popped up in my mind, and I suppose if it did happen...

 _"It won't,"_ I immediately thought, my mind filled with a steely determination that was more on the hopeful side.

"You hear that?" I suddenly heard Ulrich asked. I perked my ears up, and I could hear sirens in the distance. With haste, I stood to my feet and immediately ran as fast as I would out of the door while carrying her in my arms. I had gotten a little more used to her weight, so it was surprisingly easier getting her to the ambulance.

"Don't bother asking questions," I said, hopping into the back of the ambulance. "Just drive. Don't waste time." My voice was curt, and surprisingly commanding for someone of my age. But the paramedics seemed to agree as they began doing procedures to try and help with her case.

I did my best to block out the sounds of their attempts and their voices. But now matter how hard I pressed my palms to my ears, their voices still burrowed into my head like a high powered drill. I kept catching that her heartbeat was getting worse and that none of the stuff they were doing was working, which made me considerably more nervous. I was tapping my foot anxiously as I released my ears, knowing it was pointless to press against them anyway.

I stepped out of the ambulance instantly once we stopped and I couldn't stop pacing as I was outside her door when they took her in. Even for someone with ADHD, I was restless. Restlessness bordering on franticness.

"Take a seat," I suddenly heard someone say. I turned to see that the others had arrived, and Yumi was the one to tell me that.

"I can't. I prefer to stand. Let me walk around until my mind is eased or my legs are bleeding. Whichever comes first," I said, still pacing around the room.

"Have you heard anything?" Jeremy asked me.

"Nothing but flatlining from out here," I said, turning away while resting a hand on the wall and getting frustratingly sad. It was more intense than you think.

"That doesn't sound good," Odd said before I, out of a sudden control loss, punched the plaster wall next to me. I succeeded in putting a hole in it, but a jolt of pain shot through my arm and I gripped my fingers tight while it was in the wall. But that only proved to make it hurt worse.

"It's going to be fine," Ulrich said, putting a hand on my shoulder. I breathed a calming sigh as a way to try ease myself. Then I felt a slight tugging that made me wince a bit. But I gave into the pulling and helped ease my hand out of the wall before looking at what I did to it. Apparently plaster was a lot tougher than it looked cause my hand was covered in scars and a few bruises here and there. Not to mention it felt sprained. Then I just remembered that plaster is basically watered down concrete.

"Goodness. I gotta not do that," I said with a hiss.

"That looks like it hurts like hell," Ulrich said with a small smile.

"It does. Like crazy to be honest. That's a tough wall," I said before hissing even louder as the pain intensified.

"Of course it is since it's basically watered down concrete. They use several layers of the stuff on walls. So it's guaranteed to be tough," Jeremy told me before Ulrich stopped a passing nurse.

"Excuse me ma'am," I heard him say.

"Yes?" she asked.

"My friend here hurt his hand. Mind helping him out with that?" Ulrich asked, pointing over to me. She looked at me before looking in the hole in the wall and shaking her head.

"He gets very emotional over this girl sometimes. He's quite worried," Odd said in a polite tone. Too polite for someone like Odd.

"I see. Well, follow me young man. I'll patch it for you," the woman said. I turned towards Ulrich and immediately eyed him.

"If _anything_ changes, you tell me," I told him. Ulrich nodded in reassurance and I followed the nurse near a counter. She grabbed a roll of bandages as well as disinfectant. I bit my tongue to stop myself from jerking like crazy from the pain of the wound. She continued that for a moment before the excess was mopped up by a cotton ball and she began to wrap it up.

"You're pretty strong to punch through that plaster wall. It's basically softened cement," she said idly.

"Yeah, well... I was upset. Plus all in all, I feel like I hit a soft part of it. The broken pieces caused the cuts," I told her as she finished wrapping it.

"This girl must be really special to you," the woman said as she began to secure it.

"She is," I said, refusing to say much more than that. I did not want her getting the wrong idea.

"She your girlfriend?" the woman asked. Too late for that.

"No. Just a close friend of mine. I'm already dating someone else," I told her.

"That's starting to mean less and less as the years go on," the woman said as she finished securing my hand.

"Not to me," I said firmly.

"I'll take your word for it. Now go ahead and move along," the nurse said. I immediately took her word and moved on back to Aelita's room. Only to see that everyone was gone. I immediately walked into her room, but once I saw her lying in that hospital bed, my confidence failed me.

 _"Oh, there's the guilt again,"_ I thought to myself. I went as white as a black guy would go and immediately retreated back out of the room. _"You fucking coward."_

I was being ridiculed by my own mind, but as of right now, I didn't care. I used to think feeling guilty over these types of situations was kind of ridiculous, but you truly don't know anything about it until you've experienced it. You know it's not your fault, but it's more or less when you think about how you left off last and it was with you being mad at her and she was sad about it... man, it hits hard.

"What are you doing?" Ulrich asked me.

"Retreating into my own self-loathing. What does it look like?" I asked hollowly.

"You should know that this isn't your fault," Ulrich said.

"That I know. That's not why I'm upset. Why do I have to act like such a jackass?" I asked, clenching the knuckles in my injured arm. I winced from the pain that shot up to my wrist, so I immediately stopped it.

"You hardly ever get upset. Emotions are what make us human. It'd be scarier if you weren't upset," Yumi told me.

"Doesn't change the fact that I was an asshole," I said, rubbing my uninjured hand over my injured one.

"It's nothing to be ashamed of. We all get upset. But if you're upset about how you were acting, get in there and let Aelita know. Cause you forget, she doesn't know you're not upset at her. And she still thinks it right now. She also thinks that's why you walked out just now," Jeremy told me. I shook my head.

"Something always happens to snap us out of our issues, huh?" I asked. Everyone grinned before nodding in agreement. I gestured my head for them to follow me and I walked inside Aelita's room. Upon seeing me, she looked down a little and I looked to the side while shaking my head in disgust.

"Raise that pretty little face. I'm not mad at you," I said, pulling up a chair and sitting next to her bed.

"You're not?" Aelita asked.

"No. I'm over it now. I did plan on telling you before class started, but you started losing life fast, so that delayed that," I told her. "Just do me a favor. Don't do something like that again. I don't care how upset any of you are. We deserve to know what happens when XANA attacks."

"You're right. We know that now. And I'm sorry for not warning you. I didn't necessarily agree with them either, and I don't know why I didn't warn you, but..."

"Do yourself a favor Lita?" I interrupted while grabbing her hand and holding it up. "Stop apologizing. You need to focus on getting better."

"I guess you're- What happened to your arm?" Aelita asked, noticing my bandages.

"Got upset. Ended up punching a hole through the wall. It was a fairly clean hole, but it hurt like crazy," I said, wincing as my words somehow unconsciously sent a jolt of pain through my hand.

"You do realize these walls are made of plaster, which is basically softened concrete?" Aelita asked, sounding baffled.

"I'm not very good at logic when I'm emotional!" I said defensively. She flinched from my slight volume raise, and I punched my injured knuckles against my forehead. "God, I'm fucking tactless."

"Stop doing that," Aelita said, leaning up from her bed to grab my hand. I stopped rapping my knuckles on my forehead to push her back down onto the bed.

"Fine, fine. I'll quit it. Just stop trying to get up," I told her gently. She eased back down and my knuckles kept stinging. Looks like I agitated the cuts.

"Shit," I said, holding my injured hand and rubbing it softly to try to and ease the pain out of it.

"Is that bandage even helping?" Aelita asked me.

"Not much," I said, tightening the bandage as it had gotten a little loose from my actions. The tightening had intensified the pain in my hand, but soon after, the pain had numbed down and been relieved for the most part.

"Ah. Much better. Just needed to keep it tight," I said as Aelita grabbed onto my hand and started examining it. "Is it really that interesting?"

"Somewhat. I noticed that boxers wear bandages like this in the movies that Odd has shown me. They've got to be masochists to really do that. Or just not care about pain in general," Aelita said.

"No, they tend to wear them just for the look. Personally, I think it looks cool," I said, recalling boxers wearing bandages like this and it looking badass.

"I think it looks cool too. Or 'badass' as you tend to put it," Aelita said with air quotes, making me grin.

"I dare you to let Jim hear you say that," I said with a smirk.

"I don't really understand the concept of cursing anyway. Even when you explained it to me. It sounds a lot like word racism," Aelita said. I couldn't help but lean back in my chair to the point where it was almost about to fall and laughed loudly.

"Oh, my goodness. That's hysterical!" I breathed out as I clapped my hands together in amusement before sitting up. "Word racism. That's a good one. I'm using that."

"And makes you think you'll get my copyright permissions?" Aelita asked with a raised eyebrow. I grinned evilly before moving closer to the side of her ear. I trailed my fingers across her neck playfully to where they felt like they were tickling before I spoke in a soft tone.

"Because, you are completely at my mercy for The Tickle Torture," I said before moving backwards with my hands out like I had really said some thug life shit. "Oh, yeah. I went there."

"Curse you! My only weakness. Permissions are granted," Aelita said before we both eyed each other, grinned, and started bursting out laughing.

"I see you two are back at it again. We could hear you from out there," Odd said, walking in.

"Another way to say he had his ear against the door," Ulrich said with a smirk directed at Odd. I shook my head.

"It's whatever. We just made up. I suppose I oughta do the same with you all as well," I said, looking at everyone as a whole.

"There's no need. You had every right to be upset. I will be honest and tell you that we didn't think of it like that," Yumi said.

"The problem is that I did. But we can't let this happen again. Agreed?" I asked, getting immediate nods from everyone. I then turned back to Aelita with a smile. "Now how is the patient doing?"

"Much better now. My test results came back completely normal," Aelita said.

"Though a twelve year old flatlining like that is definitely not normal. I immediately blame XANA," I said, looking at Jeremy and gave him a nod. He immediately went to go check his laptop.

"It's dead calm as far as XANA is concerned. No towers, though the Super Scan seems to have reset itself," he said, making me frown.

"That might not be good. It's worth going to the factory to check out at the very least," I told him.

"I agree," Jeremy said, closing his laptop and putting it back up.

"We'll go with you," Ulrich said, pointing to himself and Odd.

"As will I," I said, standing up.

"You're better off here," Yumi told me, standing up. I looked at her strangely before she pointed to Aelita subtly under her arm. "You're better suited to deal with any of XANA's attacks if he decides to show up here." Her answer was definitely contradicting the point she made. In reality, she wanted me to stay here to look after Aelita. I was quite unsure as to why she wasn't just as suited to do it herself.

"Alright. I'll remain here," I said, sitting back in the seat I was in.

"Back before you know it," Ulrich said before all of them walked out. Then all of a sudden, it felt like the room grew a few degrees in temperature. I looked at Aelita, who looked completely relaxed. I could feel my tongue dry up as I had nothing to say currently.

"You look uncomfortable," Aelita said.

"That's because I have nothing to say. It's weird," I said as I crossed my right leg over my left knee.

"How's this for a starter? How are things going between you and Emily?" Aelita asked. I smiled as this was a subject I could easily talk about.

"It's going good. Much better than I expected. But it's like... I dunno. I never expected to get this far, you know? I mean, I'm me. I may be a good friend, but I'm not necessarily boyfriend material, you know?" I asked.

"If Valentine's Day showed us anything, it showed us that if you ever say something like that, you are a bold faced liar. That Valentine's Day proposal was so sweet, I could literally almost taste it," Aelita said. I grinned shyly while hiding my smile behind my hand. I decided not to bring up the fact that Emily was jealous of Aelita, cause that would ruin things a bit.

"Yeah, I dunno. It just... happened. It just came to me, ya know? It's weird. I was far bolder in that moment than I had ever been usually. But it worked well," I said as I clapped my hands together. "Enough of that. I suppose we need to have a reunion ceremony. All of us just spend some time in town. What do you say about that?"

"I say that sounds like a fun time. Besides, we need after being upset at each other for so long. Well, I wasn't upset at you, but..."

"I got what you meant Lita. It's alright. No need to bring it up," I told her. She gave me an adorable sheepish grin as she rubbed the back of her head.

"Sorry. I'm unconsciously bringing it up when it's no longer an issue. I really have got to-" Aelita cut herself off as she let out a loud gasp. She then fell unconscious with the heart monitor flatlining again.

"This shit is going to give me a heart attack," I said, my heart pounding again as I ran to go get a doctor. It was frustratingly nail digging as I stood there and watched the doctors try to revive her. Again, I had no idea why I was getting worried over nothing. Then the realization of what was happening hit me.

 _"Of course. The Supercomputer is running out of its uranium battery. And because of the piece of Aelita's memory he has, since XANA seemingly dies for a few moments, Aelita does too. Jesus, I can be slow on the uptake,"_ I thought as I watched the doctors continue their reviving techniques. Then I heard the monitor resume at a steady pace.

"In all of my years as a doctor, this is the first time I've ever seen this," the head doctor said. No doctor has really.

"It happened again?" Aelita asked after the doctors left.

"Obviously, but I know why now. The Supercomputer is almost out of its battery. XANA is on the prowl. He just isn't after us. He's going to need one of us to replace the battery," I told Aelita.

"So that's why I keep falling out. Since XANA temporarily dies, so do I," Aelita said.

"That's essentially it. Tell the others once they get here," I said as I walked towards the door.

"Wait! Where are you going?" Aelita asked me.

"For the first time, I'm going to let XANA lead me away. They should be on the way now. Should take them about five minutes. XANA should be here in about that time," I said.

"It'll be better off to leave them a note of what you're saying. That way you can shut off XANA and buy yourself more time until the others get there," Aelita told me.

"I suppose that's a better idea. Don't have any paper though," I said before raising a finger. "One second." I walked to the front desk of the lobby and addressed the nurse.

"Do you have a notepad and something to write with?" I asked politely.

"Of course," the nurse said, reaching down under her desk and handing me the items. "There you are."

"Thank you. I just need to write one thing. It'll only take a second," I said as I sat down in one of the nearby chairs and began writing on the notepad. I finished writing the note and handed the nurse her stuff back before walking back to Aelita's room and having her place the note her chest.

"Don't know how much time we have. Just leave it there. It'll work out fine," I said as I placed two of my fingers under his chin, gave her a reassuring nod, and walked out.

I headed out of the hospital, and I could see the others in the distance. I instantly moved towards the other way so that they wouldn't notice me. I knew that if they were here, XANA couldn't be far behind. So I would wait for him rather than wasting time and tell them now. I don't want it to break out into a big fight before they know what's going on. It's likely XANA wouldn't have the uranium on him as he came here, and he was the only one who knew where the stuff was. It was likely it was at the factory where the Supercomputer was, but I couldn't take that risk.

I waited for the others to pass into the hospital before I continued and continued down towards the bridge. So far so good. How is it XANA isn't here when I actually want him to find me?

"Robert!" I heard a familiar voice yelled out to me. Under normal circumstances, I was happy to hear this person's voice. In this situation, it caused me to cringe. I turned to see that Emily had just gotten out of a taxi. I guess school was over. I didn't know how long we had been here. I hadn't been looking at the time. Well, I had no exact location on XANA, so heading back towards the hospital might be good. But I wouldn't even quote myself on it.

 _"Dammit Em. Why now?"_ I questioned in my head as I walked towards her with a strained smile plastered on my face.

"How ya doing?" I asked.

"Good. I decided to come down here and see how Aelita was doing along with you and the others. Why are you walking out though?" she asked.

"Taking a walk to stretch my legs. Been in that place for a while," I told her.

"You haven't left, have you?" Emily asked.

"No. Was kinda glued there after she flatlined," I said, allowing the worry I felt a while ago flow in my voice. Emily gave me a sympathetic look before standing on the tips of her feet slightly and giving me a kiss on my cheek while placing a hand on the very spot.

"It's going to be alright," she assured me.

"I need to get some blood flowing through my legs. I'll see after a few minutes, yeah?" I told her.

"Definitely," Emily said before heading inside the building. I turned only to see XANA was behind me. He went for a punch, but I ducked under it and backed up.

"Relax. You don't have to knock me out. I know the computer's low on battery. I'll willingly go with you to change it, alright? How about we make it fast before you shut down and I don't know where to find the uranium to turn it back on. I have more to lose than you," I told him, my tone curt. XANA's host, Peter Duncan, let out a small grunt before he jerked his head which was something like a nod. I then faced towards the bridge and started sprinting with XANA at my side. Truly, XANA had super speed with his possessed hosts, but it was likely the weak battery of the Supercomputer was also weakening his powers a bit. Or at the very least uses more of the already dying uranium battery.

We quickly made it into the factory and down into the bottom of the Supercomputer. Down there was the uranium and hazmat suit that I had suspected would be here. I immediately went for the switch to deactivate XANA, and he had quickly collapsed where he stood. I then pulled out my phone to call the others.

"I was just about to call you," Jeremy said the moment the line clicked in confirmation that we were connected. Then his voice lowered into a whisper, which made me suspect Emily was in the room. "I assume XANA is down for the count?"

"Yeah, I cut the switch off. He won't be getting up. I suggest you all get here fast so you can all be ready to shut him down. As crazy as it might seem, you're going to have to sneak Aelita out of there. At least so we won't have to waste a Return to the Past. And make sure NO one comes down here as I'm changing this battery. I don't think I have to remind you what uranium does to the body," I told him seriously.

"Yeah, you don't. I got it. Though your girlfriend makes it a lot harder to sneak her out," Jeremy said, making me grunt in frustration.

"Dammit Emily. Why do you have to make things harder? Alright. Tell Ulrich to use the Sleeper pinch on her. It hurts a little, but she won't remember it at the very least," I told him.

"Got it. We'll be there soon," Jeremy told me before hanging up. I placed my phone on the ground before suiting myself in the hazmat suit that XANA had brought and looking at the uranium in the case. I admit, it had a beautiful green neon color to it. To bad it was deadly without proper gear. I kinda wanted to touch it and see how it feels.

Eventually my phone rang and Jeremy gave me the confirmation that everyone was here. I removed the old core, which was an old dark green that definitely showed how worn this battery was, and put in the fresh core before sealing it back up. I then took ahold of the pipe I had on the ground for when XANA tried to wake up. The moment his eyes opened, I brought it down on his head with a sickening crunch and he fell unconscious again.

"Unlike most of the people you possess, I have no problems bashing your head in. Though I'll be gracious enough not to. You're welcome Duncan," I said as I flipped the pipe in my hand. I then sat down and kept waiting for XANA to wake up. Every time he woke up, I bashed in him the head with the pipe every time. It was a rather simple way to deal with XANA. I love that I was precise enough and strong enough to hit him in the right place hard enough to knock him out with one blow every time. It was fun being a nerdy badass. Again, thank you Lyoko.

After a while, I noticed that his eyes had opened, but they were minus the XANA symbols. Instead of bashing him in the head again, I grinned while looking at him as he slowly rose to his feet.

"Hey buddy," I said in a pleasant tone, causing him to quickly jerk back in surprise as he looked at me.

"Wha- You're just a kid!" he exclaimed.

"I may be a kid..." I said before whacking him in his knee with the pipe, breaking it and causing him to fall over while clutching his leg. "...but you've never met someone like me."

"Definitely not. No kid I know has the stomach to break someone's legs and grin about it," Duncan said.

"But I do. I enjoy that immensely. But the fun can't last forever," I said as I brought the pipe over his head and brought it down on his head again, knocking him out. Though it wasn't hard enough to make a crunching sound. "Alright, up ya get." I managed to put Duncan on my back and get on the elevator.

"You suppose we oughta put him in front of the police station?" Jeremy asked.

"I'll give him to the cops. I'll make a story about how he ended up near the factory hurt, threatened me to take him to a hospital, but he didn't know that I was a black belt in martial arts, so I kicked him in the chest to knock him down, hit him in the leg with a rock before hitting him in the head with it. Rocks and pipes are consistent with blunt force trauma, so they have no reason to suspect otherwise. Then I'm going to tell them that I'd thought it'd be fun to carry him to the police station myself," I explained to them.

"And you think that's going to work?" Yumi asked.

"From a person who has basic knowledge of Criminalistics, yes. Most adults are to stupid to ask questions unless the plot demands it. It'll work. I'll meet you at the school in a few, alright?" I said, getting on the elevator.

"Definitely. Have fun," Aelita said. I simply smirked at her before winking as the elevator closed.

* * *

A/N: Group reunited and a criminal captured. Happy day. If you're wondering why I would take the time to let Duncan look me in the eye before I knocked him out again, it's because I hate any type of criminal that isn't someone who is desperate to make a difference in their lives. That's more of a good person doing bad things. So it's only reasonable that I want to bash their heads in a little. Is that disturbing? Perhaps a little, but that's literally how I think. It's whatever.


	17. Chapter 17 - Temptation, or Hypocrisy?

Episode References: Temptation

* * *

"Yahoo!" I said, as I moved from tree to tree like a Naruto ninja while I had a Hornet chasing me.

"You're having way too much fun with this," Aelita said as she was hanging on to my neck.

"Of course I am. I feel more like a ninja," I said as I turned on my most recent jump, drew a sword, and batted one of the lasers back at one of the Hornets. My reflection was spot on and it destroyed the Hornet instantly while I was able to flawlessly start jumping from tree to tree again. "Bodied."

"And here I was thinking you needed help," Yumi said as she came up from behind me on the Overwing. I couldn't turn around to face her, but I was still grinning.

"Whatever gave you that idea?" I said in a voice that was too innocent for someone like me. Ulrich snickered from ground level as well as Odd from my tone. The girls simply rolled their eyes. But more laser fire alerted me that Ulrich was being pursued.

"You need help?" I asked. I kept my sword out as I was jumping.

"Watch and learn," Ulrich said, hitting a button on his Overbike. Then, jumping in the air, did a flawless three hundred and sixty degree spin that destroyed both of the Hornets that were pursuing him. Yumi let out a low whistle and I jumped from the trees and onto the platform while continuing my running. I shot him a thumbs up as I ran alongside him, and he grinned.

 _"You're only a few minutes from the activated tower,"_ Jeremy told us.

"And here I was thinking we were going to spend time with our friendly neighborhood flying rodents," I said in a fake forlorn voice. "Ah, well."

"Sounds like something I would say," Odd said.

"Of course it is," I said with a smirk in his direction. He smirked back as we both had identical devious grins on our faces.

 _"Behind you!"_ Jeremy exclaimed. I instantly turned to face the Hornet that was chasing us before deflecting the lasers it fired at us back it, destroying it. My accuracy on reflecting was getting much better. Then I turned back around toward the tower and kept running.

"You're getting better at that," Aelita told me.

"I know. I love it. Gives me a tiny bit of range against my enemies without needing lightning," I said.

We made it to a more wide clearing, and a swarm of hornets soon followed after us. I simply stopped, cracked my knuckles, and spun on my heel in a three sixty before releasing a torrent of lightning at the swarm that ended up stopping them in their tracks. Soon after, Odd came up on his hoverboard firing Laser Arrows along with Yumi tossing her fans at them. It didn't take long before they were decimated.

"And that's how we do it," I said, my breathing somewhat faster because of the minor fatigue that hit me. The more I flexed this power, the less energy it was going to wear on me as the days go on. Nevertheless, I started running back towards the tower, Force Jumping past all the logs before landing with grace.

"You sure know how to speed up the trip," Aelita said with a grin before it instantly disappeared. And I could not blame her. Out of all things, the Scyphozoa decides to show up now. I sliced a tentacle that was heading right for me before pressing an offensive and started slicing tentacle after tentacle. This thing couldn't have seriously believed it could take us down without backup?

"Yeah, run! Like you even stood a chance!" I said, holding my arms out as I watched the retreating creature.

"Curb that ego of yours a little," Aelita said as she hopped off me. I gave her a shit-eating grin that she rolled her eyes at before entering the tower. I crossed my arms as I stood in front of the tower with a serious look, eyes out for more monsters. I then rubbed my temples.

"Why so serious?" Ulrich asked. I relaxed my shoulders and stopped rubbing my forehead as soon as he said that and looked at him.

"Sorry. Just dealing with... problems," I said, rubbing my temples.

"XANA?" Ulrich asked.

"That's part of the problem. Jeremy's been returning to the past a good amount recently, right?" I told him.

"Yeah. Even in some cases, it's really weird. Is that what you're thinking about?" Ulrich asked.

"I've been thinking about it, but that's not what's stressing me. On those days where he doesn't return to the past, I happen to have something scheduled with Emily at the time," I told him.

"Ah. And it leads to issues as to why you didn't show up, am I right?" Ulrich said.

"Yeah. A few times I just told her that I had work or there were a few issues, but that will work only so many times. Then I tried to work my way around a different solution. Told her that it was a family situation I couldn't tell her about. So I have to roll with that excuse," I said with a sigh.

"Hopefully one day you won't need excuses. Hopefully XANA'll be gone soon and you'll be able to do what you need to do in peace," Ulrich told me in a reassuring tone.

"I hope so. Hey, I would like to think of this as a test by God. If this is truly the girl that I should be spending my time on, then we'll make it through," I said with a confident smile.

"That's the spirit," Ulrich told me with a smile. I put a friendly arm around his shoulder before looking at him.

"And this is why I can count on you as my friend. The others are cool and all, but I feel as if you're the only one that really understands my stress. Cause contrary to their beliefs, they don't have problems in the relationship department. Well, maybe Aelita a little. We do. You're dealing with a girl who's stubborn as fuck for whatever reason. And I have to try and keep my girlfriend happy while keeping a secret from her that I battle a homicidal AI that seeks to take over the world," I explained with a nonchalant tone.

"Meanwhile, Jeremy has to stop playing ignorant cause I know Aelita's been trying. Odd just has to decide which one he wants to settle down with. And Yumi... well, I don't know what's with her," Ulrich said, rubbing his arm in slight nervousness when he treaded on that subject.

 _"Ok,"_ Jeremy said, breaking our conversation up. _"I'll start the return and get you all home."_

"Really?" Yumi said, coming up to us. "Why? XANA didn't even have time to launch an attack on earth."

"You can never be too careful," Jeremy told us.

"Um, may I remind you that going back in time makes XANA stronger?" Ulrich questioned.

 _"I know what I'm doing, alright?!"_ Jeremy exclaimed defensively.

"That should be all the more reason why we shouldn't do this. You out of all people," I said, sounding irritated.

 _"Just trust me, ok?"_ Jeremy said, again, sounding defensive.

"Jeremy, that's not the point," Aelita said as she walked out of the tower. But I could already hear the clacking of his keyboard. I gritted my teeth in irritation.

 _"That's my final answer. Return to the Past now,"_ Jeremy said as the familiar white light covered us.

* * *

"He is REALLY starting to piss me off," I said as I was angrily scratching my irritated neck. But I was a little too rough and I ended up opening a wound. "Shit."

"Calm down, would you?" Aelita asked me, wiping the tiny amount of blood off my neck before gently blowing on the open wound. That calmed some of the irritation.

"Thanks," I told her.

"No problem," Aelita assured me before backing up against the vendor to look at me better. "So what do you think about Jeremy?"

"I don't know if he's got an ulterior motive and acting like a hypocrite or... yeah, that's all I got," I said as I rubbed my temples.

"Come on. I'm sure he does have a good reason," Aelita told me.

"So did Ulrich when he did the same," I said simply. Aelita looked to the side. I could see in her eyes that she knew I was telling the truth.

"You think we should talk to him about it?" Ulrich asked.

"No. Judging from last night, he won't tell us anything. We're going to have to find out his motives ourselves," I said.

"Who knows? Maybe he's got family problems," Yumi said. Before opened my mouth to tell her how unlikely that was, Odd spoke up.

"Or else, he's only just realized he has a split personality and that when the moon is full, he becomes the son of Dr. Schmank! Capable of grafting animal body parts onto human beings! And he now knows that he must face up to a fate worse than death!" Odd narrated dramatically.

"You've been watching that one film again, haven't you? Hospital... Damn..." I said, snapping my fingers rapidly to try and think of the name. "What was it?"

"Horror at the Hospital," Ulrich said, making me snap my fingers sharply in realization.

"That's it," I said, pointing at him.

"How can anyone pass up such a fantastic program?" Odd questioned. As one, we all raised our beverages and I couldn't help but grin.

"There he is," Ulrich said, wiping the smile off my face instantly as I turned to spot Jeremy coming over towards us.

"How's life, Einstein?" Odd questioned in a friendly tone. He was ignored.

"Where were you?" Aelita asked him.

"In my room, why? Is there a law against it?" Jeremy questioned.

"She just asked you a question," I said with a frown. "No need to get all worked up."

"I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself, thank you, so just get off my back," Jeremy said. I scoffed before looking to the side with my arms crossed.

"Asshole," I said without even bothering to tone down my voice.

"You might just have something there with your Dr. Shrink theory," Ulrich said, looking at Odd. To be honest, I almost hoped that was the problem. It would be a lot simpler.

"Ah! Ya see? I told you so," Odd said as the bell rung. "Right, in the meantime, I've also got to face a fate worse than death."

"What's that?" Ulrich questioned.

"Mrs. Myers' class," Odd said, making me snort in laughter.

"We have it with you, remember? You're not gonna suffer alone," I said as I followed him to the class.

Only a few minutes into the class already had me tapping my fingers on the desk silently, but impatiently. I didn't think it would, but somehow knowing just all the answers made class more boring than when I didn't. It almost felt like a repeat, which gets old after a while.

"Ma'am?" I heard Jeremy question. I scoffed. I didn't bother looking up at him.

"Uh, yes Jeremy? Question?" Mrs. Myers asked him.

"May I go to the Infirmary?" he asked. I frowned. Did XANA attack and he didn't tell us? No, that wouldn't make sense even for him. But he was clutching his head like he was in actual pain.

"Oh, yes of course," Mrs. Myers said.

"Do you want me to come with you?" Aelita asked.

"No!" he snapped at her. The look of surprise was apparent on her face, but that was replaced by a dejected one as she put her chin on her crossed hands on the table.

SNAP!

The loud crack was like a thunderclap in the silent room. I suddenly looked around to see what the sound originated from, but I was wondering why my hands suddenly felt weird. I looked down to see that they were covered in a few idle pieces that had snapped from the pencil I was holding.

And didn't break it by bending the edges. No, it seems I broke it by gripping down it too hard. The lead and the orange outside of were in pieces. I blinked in surprise. Where did that come from?

"Is there something wrong Mr. Morgan?" Mrs. Meyer questioned. I snapped my gaze away from the pencil to look at her.

"I need a new pencil?" I questioned weakly. That garnered laughter from a few of the other students, but Mrs. Meyer was ever stoic.

"Since you're a good student, I'll agree to give you one. But please try and keep your pencils intact. Trees suffer for this, you know," she said with a small smile on her face. I gave her a friendly smile back that lifted my spirits a little as I took the pencil from her.

"Thank you ma'am," I said kindly. Then she went back to her lesson.

"What was that about?" Aelita questioned. A dark crossed over my face as I leaned back in my chair.

"I need to talk to Jeremy," I said, the dark look still on my face. She didn't bother to question me after that.

* * *

"He's skipping too many classes," I said as I impatiently tapped my foot as I was moving across the line.

"Yeah, skipping gym and lunch I could see. But missing out on history class is not Jeremy's thing," Odd said.

"I'm going to check his room," Aelita said.

"I'm coming with," I said. To be honest, I didn't trust this new attitude Jeremy had. It was worrying me, and I definitely think that they're conversation could use a mediator. In case things went off the rails. She suggested we use the notes she wrote him for the class as an excuse, and I agreed to go with that.

I suggested we just barge in, but Aelita said that it might be a better idea for them just to knock. I sighed, but I let her continue.

"Yes?" Jeremy questioned through the door after Aelita knocked. She then entered the door and held up the binder she used as an excuse.

"It's me and Robert. We brought your notes from the classes you missed this morning," Aelita said.

"Put them down on the bed," Jeremy said impatiently. I was biting my tongue to prevent myself from saying something off the rails. I promised Aelita to be nice, but I don't know how long I was going to keep that promise. So my best course was to avoid talking at all.

"Jeremy, you know if there's anything wrong, you know you can talk to me about it. Right?" Aelita said, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"What's up with you guys?" Jeremy questioned indignantly. "There's nothing wrong with me! I'm just working, that's all!"

 _Tick..._

"I'm working on trying to find the missing piece of your memory, which will free you from XANA. Isn't that worth spending some time on?"

 _Tick..._

"Yes, of course, but... you've been acting strange recently. You should take a break from time to time," Aelita suggested.

"Oh, yeah. Does XANA take breaks? No! So what do you want? Do you want him to take your memory?"

 _Tock._

"I suggest you calm down, take a breather, and watch your tone before you saying something you'll regret," I said, my voice laced with barely restrained anger.

"And you're the type to lecture me on how I should talk?" Jeremy said.

"I'm also the type who seems to care more about your friends than you do cause of the way you've been acting," I snapped at him before gesturing at Aelita. "Does she look like she deserves any of the flak you've been giving her? No. So shape up before I have to beat you like the child you're acting like right now." I looked down on him in the chair he was sitting in something in his eyes flashed. And it was a look I could recognize. Was I getting through to him?

But then the computer right now next to us beeped and that ruined any further conversation we were going to have.

"Ah, you see? I told you XANA never takes breaks!" Jeremy exclaimed.

"We get it. Let me call the others," I said, taking out my phone and dialing Yumi's number.

"S.O.S. XANA," I said, using the traditional saying so it wouldn't be picked up as suspicious in case anyone was listening.

"Ok, we're on the way," Yumi said before I hung up. I then looked to the other two.

"Let's go. Stay close, and move fast," I said as we walked out. I couldn't really run at my top speed cause I would lose the other two, but I made sure to move with as we quickly made our way to the factory.

"The activated tower is in the Mountain Sector," Jeremy told us.

"Go ahead and virtualize us. The others will catch up when they get here. That is, if XANA isn't holding them up," I told him.

"Agreed. Transfer Aelita. Transfer Robert. Virtualization," Jeremy said, before the whoosh of air and the familiar feeling of being virtualized was traveling through me again.

I landed my feet as soon as the feeling of being back in a whole body came back to me, and I was able to see the tower directly from my line of sight.

"Wow, it's really close this time. I like it," I said as I hoisted Aelita onto my back. But then I noticed the one and a half dozen Kankrelats blocking our way. "That however, I don't like very much."

"You should be able to easily give them the slip if you keep moving," Aelita told me. I nodded before standing on the tips of my toes before dashing off in a Force Sprint. I drew my blade and began deflecting the lasers as they were heading towards me before making an effortless leap over the crowd and kept moving.

"Maybe XANA should've picked more competent monsters," I said with a smirk. In seconds we were in front of the tower and Aelita was able to quickly enter. The monsters then turned to try and head towards me, but I leaned against the tower with a smirk on my face. They were way too far away to even try to hit me from here.

"Right. I'm launching it. Get ready," Jeremy said, obviously speaking to one of the others. "Return to the Past now."

* * *

"He's not here again?" I questioned when we were waiting by the machine.

"Let's go check his room again," Aelita suggested. So again, we went to his room and Aelita knocked on the door. This time, there was no answer. So she just walked in. She gasped in surprise and I looked past her to see Jeremy was unconscious on the floor.

"Ok, now whatever he's doing is starting to put himself in danger," I said as I walked over to him and checked his pulse. It was level. Thank God. I picked him and started heading towards the Infirmary as quick as a pace as I could. The nurse pointed at the bed for me to lay him on and I backed up as I got lost in my thoughts as to what caused this.

"Jeremy, wake up! It's terrible! Aelita has fallen in love with Herb!" Odd exclaimed, making me unable resist cracking a smile at the good natured foolishness of this dude.

"Really?" I questioned.

"Hey, it does work at times," Odd said defensively before he turned more serious. "This is really serious."

"Right. I'm calling the hospital," Nurse Yolanda said.

"Look! His eyelids are moving!" Aelita exclaimed, pointing at him. They were in fact moving erratically.

"I know that look. It happens with most cases of night terrors or anything of the sort. But... what exactly is he seeing?" I questioned as I paced the room. Aelita put an arm on my shoulder to stop my pacing and lead me out of the room. I let her cause I didn't want to bother making my head explode from all the thinking I was doing.

"What could've happened to him?" Ulrich questioned.

"Something might've happened on the last return to the past," Aelita suggested.

"XANA?" Yumi questioned.

"No. I have the feeling this isn't his doing. I need to look into the Supercomputer," I said before walking towards him room.

"What do you think you'll find?" Ulrich asked.

"An explanation as to what he was doing," I said as I began walking down the hallway. But as I rounded the corner, I immediately came nose to nose with Emily. Great. This was going to put a damper on things. But gave her a shaky smile that I had to fake to let her know I was glad to see her, but still upset.

"Hey Em," I said, my tone matching my expression.

"Hey. I heard about Jeremy. Is he alright?" Emily asked.

"He's got to go to the hospital," I said, my genuinely growing more worried as the words came out of my mouth.

"It's that bad?" Emily questioned. I nodded solemnly. "Have they figured out what's wrong with him?"

"No, and that's what worries me," I said as I felt a hand on my shoulder.

"Don't worry. They'll get it done soon," Aelita said with a reassuring smile. "And you know that assignment that you need to do? Don't worry. I'll take care of it." I knew she was talking about looking into his computer, and I smiled genuinely.

"Thank you," I said as she walked out of the hallway with the others.

"She really looks after you, doesn't she?" Emily questioned.

"We all do. It's why we're as close as we are as friends. And nothing will change that," I said with a confident tone as I took a seat next to the door. "But if you don't mind, I could use a change of subject to take my mind off things. At least until Jeremy is moved."

"I'll be glad to," Emily said. From there, we just struck up a conversation. About something. Anything. From classes, to previous dates, to events.

But at the back of my mind, I couldn't help but feel this was all fake. I couldn't really treat Emily like one of my top priorities because of XANA, and the fact that this conversation even exist makes it feel fake.

 _"God, I can't wait until he's gone,"_ I thought right as the people from the hospital began walking into the hallway with a stretcher. Emily put a hand on my shoulder, but it was almost as if it wasn't even there. I still had that haunting feeling of worry in my gut. And it was not a pleasant feeling.

I rose to my feet that felt more like lead than bones as I followed them out. I tried to shake off the feeling, but this was something that was not caused by XANA. This was something different. And it worried me ten times more than any XANA situation.

"Are you there?" Emily asked as she walked alongside me.

"My mind feels like mush and my legs feel like lead," I said as we came outside. The workers were wheeling him into the back of the vehicle and I immediately sat down. Surprisingly, none of the adults questioned me as I stayed on the edge to talk to Emily.

"If you don't mind, I'd just like to headbutt back here with him. Kind of get some things off my chest," I told her. She nodded in understanding before giving me a kiss on the cheek. I closed the doors to the ambulance before rubbing my face as I was sitting on the edge of the seat.

Then, to my surprise, the ambulance suddenly cut on and we were moving. Wow, those paramedics move fast.

"Well, you could give a guy a little warning," I said with a small chuckle as I looked towards the front. But there was no one there. Oh, no. "FUCK. ME." I then furiously began to dial my phone number to contact Ulrich.

"Yeah?" he questioned.

"I've got a big problem. XANA's taken control over the ambulance Jeremy's held in. To double the trouble, I'm also in it," I said.

"Yeah, we saw the tower was active as well. Aelita's got us near the scanners. I'll let her know we have to move fast," Ulrich said.

"Be really fast. Cause I know exactly where this thing is going. And I can't swim," I said, my tone becoming slightly fearful.

"Swimming is unlikely to be useful if you're trapped. Just try and hold your breath for as long as you can," Ulrich told me. I nodded as I looked at the still unconscious Jeremy.

"Shit. And you're going to be a sitting duck when we get to that lake," I thought aloud. I had to find someway to snap some sense back into him. So I put my hands on his shoulders and began to yell.

"Jeremy?! Jeremy! Wake up! I know you're not one for tasteless jokes, but we're all about to be undah da sea if you don't wake up!" I said, before shaking my head. "Fuck, he wouldn't have heard of that one. Jesus, I think I'm actually panicking."

"Robert?" I heard Jeremy question suddenly as I looked back down to him. "What's going on?"

"We're on a romantic ride in an ambulance with XANA as our chauffeur," I said dryly. "And soon we'll have some nice seafood to dine on."

"You're right. I'm definitely not one for a tasteless joke," Jeremy said, making me grin slightly. "So I assume stopping the ambulance is not an option?"

"No. The best idea I have is to jump out when the ambulance hits a corner. That way the speed will be considerably less when we jump out," I said.

"Jump out? Are you crazy?" Jeremy questioned.

"Yes. But believe it or not, I'd take the possibility of broken bones over stepping one foot in deep water," I said as I opened the door. "Get on my back. It'll be safer for you at the very least."

"There's no argument for me, is there?" Jeremy questioned.

"Definitely not," I said as I hoisted him on my back. Then the ambulance came to an abrupt and screeching halt that flew us out of the door without either of our consent. My side hit the wall with full force, and I could hear a sharp crack that made me cry out in pain before I hit the ground on my chest that made me curl up into a ball.

"Remind to take my chances with... Oh, no..." Jeremy said as I he began to take in the state I was in. I then chuckled weakly.

"Hurts like hell," I said, groaning as I turned over on my back. Jeremy weakly shook me.

"It's coming back around!" he warned me. I did my best to get up and I did in fact see the ambulance heading back towards us. With Jeremy's help, I managed to get into the nearest alley before it hit us before we hid behind a dumpster. I had to do my best to prevent myself from groaning in pain. My shoulder and chest hurt so badly.

"I don't think it can follow us. This alley's too narrow. You alright?" Jeremy asked me.

"As alright as I can be after I just hit the wall of a building going a hundred miles per hour. I..." I hissed in pain as I tried to move my arm. "I think I broke more than just my shoulder when I hit it. That was a lot of force put into that blow. The bone might even be shattered."

"So it's going to hurt ten times worse if you move it. Got it. Then we'll just stay here until the others deactivate the tower," Jeremy said.

"Let's see if I can avoid passing out in that meantime," I said as I did my best to keep still. But from the pain that was coursing through me just by standing still was enough to make me wanna groan from the agony. "God, I'm going to vomit so hard when we return."

"Don't worry. It'll be fine," Jeremy assured me.

The only thing that was left to do was to wait. It was an agonizing wait considering my state, but it was all I could do. I wasn't going to dare move out of the safety of this alley even though the offer was sorely tempting. If I wasn't so injured, I'd take the time to lecture Jeremy about a lot things that were coursing through my mind when I looked at the things that happened today.

Then the white flash began to engulf the current world and we were back by the vendors. But I didn't vomit like I was expecting. It was a pleasant surprise. But then I put a finger on the collar of my shirt and pulled at to help with how uncomfortable I felt under the collar.

"Ugh. Why do I feel so damn hot? Trust me when say that it isn't common," I said. Aelita put a hand on my forehead. I feel like she would make a really good nurse from how many times she's done stuff like this. I'd definitely take her treatment over the Infirmary. It's not all that pleasant or interesting to stay there more than a few minutes.

"You do feel pretty warm. And about as flush as I've seen you," Aelita said, moving her hand to my neck and backing up to get a better look at me. "Something happen before we returned to the past?"

"He jumped out of the moving ambulance and hit the wall full force. Think his ribs were broken and his arm was shattered," Jeremy said, making the others hiss.

"It's a lot more painful than it sounds. But I don't know what were the effects of me returning to get those injuries healed," I said, my breathing suddenly becoming more labored.

"Maybe you should make a trip to the Infirmary?" Yumi suggested.

"Yeah. But God I hate being tied down in that damn place," I said as I walked towards the place. But then sudden arrival of the heat once I stepped out caused me to slow down. When I slowed down, I ended up getting into a kneel. Then came the vomit I expected when I first came back.

"Whoa! Watch out!" Odd said, backpedaling back from the vomit. Ulrich and Aelita made care to avoid the vomit as they grabbed me under my arms and helped me to my feet. But I was dead weight. And I certainly felt like it. I felt hot, yet cold. My body ached like crazy. Having a headache did not help matters either.

"Not you too..." Aelita said, her tone holding a small bit of worry.

"Hey, at least I'm conscious," I said, managing to lift my head to flash a cheesy grin at her. "But with the way I'm feeling, I think I'll take passing out," I said as they continued to drag me. My feet were literally dragging the ground like I was one of XANA's Creepers. Trying to walk was a near impossibility for me.

"What happened to him?" Nurse Yolanda asked.

"Well, first off he said he felt kind of hot. I put a hand to his forehead and neck, and he did feel rather hot," Aelita told her.

"Then he vomited soon after, and I'm not sure what else he's suffering from. He couldn't even walk when we tried to take him over," Ulrich told her.

"Hold on. Let me check a few things," Yolanda said, starting off with taking my temperature. I was half alive during the tests. My mind was racing with thoughts, but my body was still. And I'm sure my face looked like I was in a state of shock considering my thoughts and my body's immobility.

"I'm amazed you even got out of bed this morning," Yolanda said as she looked at me.

"It was only a little fatigue then. I figured that was just waking up," I told her.

"So what is wrong with him?" Yumi asked.

"Just a mild fever..." I could faintly hear the sigh of relief from some of the others. They were glad that it was something normal and not XANA related. "...it is recommended that I keep him here."

"For how long?" Yolanda asked.

"Few days at the most. Don't worry, he'll be just fine. He'll knock it out quickly," Yolanda said.

"Can I speak to Jeremy for a second? Alone," I said, managing to sit up to get a better position to look at them better.

"You should be..." I raised a hand to quiet her, and while it may seemed disrespectful, the seriousness of the gesture made her take this more seriously than I think she ever would've otherwise.

"Few minutes of sitting up won't kill me. I just need to get this out of the way and then I'm all yours," I said, having to restrain a smirk from how that could be taken out of context. I mentally laughed at the stupidity of my mind.

"Few minutes?" Yolanda said.

"Few minutes," I promised her. She then nodded and ushered everyone except Jeremy out. I then turned to look at him with a serious look.

"What is it?" he asked. I crossed my arms and looked him dead in his eyes.

"Tell me something. Do you think you're better than the rest of us?" I asked, my question coming out very blunt. He seemed very taken aback by the question, but then he recovered.

"Wha- What kind of question is that?!" Jeremy asked, sounding very flabbergasted. I then shrugged nonchalantly.

"Well, it's just because you do things you yourself have warned us about doing. Most hypocrites believe they have some level of superiority to where they can do thing they themselves told other people they shouldn't do," I said with a casual tone.

"I do not think I'm better than the rest of you," Jeremy told me firmly.

"Then tell me why you would pull the same shit Ulrich did when he thought Yumi was moving away," I told him.

"What I was doing was important..."

"And Ulrich not trying to keep one of our closest friends here is not important. Ok," I said, my tone as casual as anything.

"I..." I raised a hand to cut him off then looked at him. Now I was pissed off as I looked him with an ugly look.

"The only reason I didn't ask the others to listen in on this is because some of them would try to defend you for whatever reason. But there's no defending this. You kicked Ulrich out of the group because he did the same thing as you did. Tell me something. Why aren't we kicking you out of the group, huh?" I questioned, trying to stop myself from raising myself up so I could get in his face.

Silence. That's all I was met with silence. I then pinched the bridge of my nose. I was too damn sore for this shit.

"I'm only going to say this once. You pull something like this again, and I'm pulling you against the wall like you're a thug on the street and beating you down. You may not think you're better than everyone, but at times you sure act like it. Going around acting like you're right all that time and that all of your actions are justified all the time. Guess what motherfucker? So are mine," I said, staring him down with something equal to a dragon.

He took a step back from my gaze and we held eye contact for a bit. I think it finally sunk in that I was not kidding when I said that, as he looked away.

"You can let everyone back in now," I said. He immediately went toward the door and I laid down more comfortably in my bed.

* * *

A/N: To be honest, in the show, a conversation like that should've been held. Not quite as violent or threatening, but one of similar context. Cause I can never look at those episodes ever the same again considering how much of a hypocrite Jeremy was being. I like to express some of my real thoughts about the show through writing. That's why self inserts are so fun.


	18. Chapter 18 - Walking Dead(Lyoko Style)

Episode References: Attack of the Zombies

* * *

"How'd the Italian test go?" Yumi asked.

"I couldn't string two words together," Jeremy said, making me grin.

 _"Il linguaggio è un'arte. Un apprendimento arte vale la pena,"_ I said flawlessly.

"Mmm. I like a little of that exotic flair," Emily said, coming up from behind me and wrapping my hands around my waist. I grinned while putting a hand around her shoulder and stroking the side of her face.

"I know you do. Same goes for me. I know that French side of yours makes _très allumé,"_ I said, turning in her arms and starting to nibble on her her neck gently. Her grin turned into a gasp, which made me grin even wider into my nibbling.

"You have no shame, do you?" Yumi said from behind me. I had to control the happiness that was going on in the front of my pants before turning around with the most even expression on my face.

"Nope. Trust me, I can get a lot more worse than that. She knows," I said, jerking my thumb at Emily. I looked at her and she blushed, but she still grinned while nodding. Yumi looked at me and shook her head before moving closer to me and whispering in my ear.

"You two are going to have lots of babies together, aren't you?" she asked, making me grin even wider. But I whispered in her ear in response.

"I can definitely say that we'll being doing a lot of the process of doing so," I said with a wide grin before moving back and putting my arm around Emily.

"What'd you two say?" Emily asked.

"A little private joke between the two of us," I said with a wink towards Yumi's direction which was not missed by anyone. She grinned as she straightened up.

"My dear Milly, I am definitely uninterested in the subject and people do not need to know exactly what I think. So I would appreciate if didn't get questioned. Like, ever!" Sissi said, before turning on her heel and walking off. I tilted my head. That... wasn't quite as bad I thought it would be.

"Poor old Sissi. You need a brain to think!" Odd exclaimed. Under normal circumstances, it was funny. But this was not normal. She was a bit toned down than usual.

"Good old Odd. As unfunny as ever. Shut up, will you?!" Sissi exclaimed, storming off. I watched her walk away with both of my brows furrowed.

"I know that look. What are you thinking?" Emily asked.

"Something about Sissi. She doesn't look as vindictive as usual. She just looks... plain irritated," I said thoughtfully.

"Isn't that everyday?"Odd questioned with a grin, garnering laughs from most of the group. Though I still didn't laugh, and this is what caused them to actually look at me seriously.

"You think she actually might be bothered by something?" Ulrich asked me.

"I dunno. Maybe she's scheming again, counting on me to notice and set us up for something. Then again, it require a subtlety I don't believe she is capable of. I dunno. Maybe I'm overanalyzing this. I tend to do that," I said, holding up my hand and shaking my head. Then I felt lips press against my cheek.

"Don't worry about it. Trust me, after what you told me what she did to mess with you, I would suggest even if something is wrong with her, don't bother," Emily said. I frowned, which was threatening to turn into a snarl. What a terrible way to steal my first kiss. In my mind, that doesn't count. My first true kiss was with Emily. And I was happy about that. Once I flushed my mind with the fact that the horrible thing Sissi did doesn't count.

But gratefully, heading to lunch was able to take my mind off things. I was happy to be to eat. It was a pleasant past time.

"You gonna finish your chocolate pudding?" Odd asked Aelita.

"Isn't that your fourth one?" she questioned.

"Odd is like a cow. He has more than one stomach," Ulrich said, making me grin. Emily then elbowed me.

"Do I need to bring up what happened at the pizza place?" she asked. That shut me up quick.

"What happened at the pizza place?" Odd asked with a smirk on his face. I glared at him.

"None of your business," I said before shaking my head. "Ok, it's not that bad, but it's somewhat embarrassing."

"Then what is it?" Yumi asked, looking genuinely curious. I sighed.

"Ok, now we went out on a date to this one pizza place across town and we ordered six pizzas," I said, making Jeremy widen his eyes a small amount.

"That's quite a bit between the both of you," Jeremy said, making Emily grin while shaking her head.

"That's the thing. I only had half a pizza. This handsome little beast right here ate five and a half of them," she said, grinning even wider as she patted me on my shoulder. I sighed and placed my hand in front of my eyes while shaking it as everyone looked at me like I sprouted an extra head.

"And you say I'm greedy," Odd said.

"Only on Sundays," I said in the most even voice ever. It made everyone shake their heads, but they couldn't hold back laughs. I watched too much damn YouTube. Emphasis on watched.

"Help me!" someone exclaimed. I quickly wheeled around as the voice sounded panicked and familiar.

Bursting through the door was a fearful looking Milly. She was in her bathrobe, so she must've just been near the showers.

"Tamiya came after me! She looked strange and her eyes were completely white! They were horrible! She looked like Dr. Shreg!" she exclaimed. I looked at Odd for clarification.

"Dr. Shreg?" I questioned.

"The psycho TV brain surgeon in 'Hospital of Horrors,'" he said. My mouth formed into an 'ah' shape in understanding.

"It's more than likely someone played a prank on her. Albeit, a good one," Emily said. Everyone at the table besides Emily made eye contact at the same time. We know exactly what the cause of this might be. And it's not a good one.

"I need to check on something. I'll be back. Robert, mind helping me out?" Jeremy asked, holding his laptop under his arm. I nodded and stood up as I knew he was going to check on the towers. And I would have the hardest time getting away without having to make up awkward excuses that would take up too much time. Glad to see he has my back on this one.

He led me outside and he crouched down to open his laptop. Sure enough, it was beeping with the alert.

"So it is XANA," I said.

"Message the others. We have to move fast," Jeremy said. I nodded and sent the same message to all of them. S.O.S XANA. I then looked around and saw Jim just standing there. That was really weird. At least in this case, cause he was literally looking at nothing. Then the door opened behind us, and the others were trailing right behind Sissi. Including Emily. Great.

"We're going to get her father. I don't know why they suggested we follow, but we are," Emily said.

"Let's just not say not even two words unless we absolutely have to," I said. She nodded in agreement.

"Hey Jim!" Sissi called out to the man in question. I strained my eyes at the man. I noticed his skin seemed kind of... greenish. Was that normal? And... were his fingers clawed? My eyes widened as I held a shoulder out to stop her from walking up towards him. Sissi looked at the arm that grabbed her before moving out of my grip.

"He looks distracted already. Let's just make straight for your father's office," I said in a stern tone.

"Man, you sound like the teachers around this place," Sissi said before we diverted paths and walked away from Jim. Then Emily tapped my shoulder.

"What happened to not talking to her unless necessary?" she asked.

"It is kind of necessary. Jim's been kind of... he's got things on his mind. He doesn't really need the bother right now," I lied, giving her a soft look. Her questioning look then became a more understanding one.

"Oh, I see. I hope it works better for him then," Emily said, walking with the others to the principal's office. I didn't feel sick with myself for lying that time. Don't know whether that's a good or bad thing.

But a averagely loud growl caused me to wheel my head around and face whatever made it. It was Jim. Looks like he noticed us. And judging from Milly's earlier statement, he had at least one more partner in crime.

This revelation immediately caused Sissi to run off in terror, which in turn, caused Ulrich to chase after her.

"Meet up at the factory!" Ulrich exclaimed as I felt an arm latch on to me. But one arm turned into two. I looked around in confusion as I saw Emily and Aelita latch onto my arms. This was definitely one situation I did not expect to have.

"Shall I save the escorts for prom? We kinda need to run," I said, jerking my head towards the zombified Jim. They then freed my arms and I had free rein to start running along with the others. But then we quickly realized that there were definitely A LOT more people affected by this.

"Ho-ly shit. I feel like I'm in the Walking Dead," I said as I looked for a hole to dash through. There was none. I could fight my way though, but that would lead to risks if somebody got bit. "Back inside!"

I jumped and kicked the zombified Jim onto the ground before opening the door, quickly gesturing everyone inside, and closing the door. I then started moving chairs and tables to block the windows.

"Is that even going to help?" Emily asked.

"Well, if Call of Duty was the remotest bit accurate, it'll at least buy us time. I have a way to help us in this situation, but I need to get us out of here," I said, looking around for a back door. And found one. "Bingo."

"Ulrich's probably at the factory already. We can go meet him," Odd said, grabbing the door handle.

"Hey, where do you think you're going?" William suddenly said.

"Outside. Duh," I said, gesturing Odd to open the door.

"No way. It's too dangerous," William said.

"You want a way out of this situation? Than we need to go. NOW," I said, deciding on grabbing the door myself.

"Wait! Where are you going?" Emily asked.

"I have something that can help us here, but I need to get out of here. It's better for you to stay here. It's safer," I told her.

"And what about you?" Emily asked.

"That's not my concern. My concern is helping these people. That includes all of you. But I know how to handle myself," I said, opening the door. But I still felt a hand on my shoulder that caused me to stiffen. "Let go of me William."

"Sorry, but you may be just as old as me, but we're supposed to be the ones responsible here. And you're not being very responsible at all," William said, making me bark a laugh. It wasn't humored though. It was hollow and edgy.

"Ha. That's cute," I said, opening the back door. But I still felt him shove me away from it. "To hell with words." I then hit William with a swift roundhouse that left him stunned before following it up with a sweep and a knee to the face that knocked him out before he hit the ground.

"Did you really have to do that?" Emily asked, looking at me somewhat hesitantly.

"I like William, but he's not stopping me," I said before putting my hands on her shoulders and giving her a kiss on the lips. "Be safe. If they decide to come back, hide as many people as you can in the kitchen. If there's a place you can fit, hide there." I then gestured for the others to follow me out the door and we broke off into a sprint.

"Slow down," I hissed as I saw zombies were nearing us. "Stay low and quiet. Move swiftly, yet quietly."

Staying in a silent crouch, the four of us managed to go around the zombies that were near the edge of the wood before working our way around to the factory location.

"Robert!" I heard someone exclaimed. It caused me to cringe visibly before I turned and saw Ulrich was escorting Sissi somewhere. And I don't know why she called out to me when the fucking undead was around this place, much less scream it at the top of her lungs.

"Lord, bless upon this idiotic woman the basest bit of survival intelligence. Or just in intelligence in general," I said, holding my hands together in a prayer fashion before gesturing further into the wood where the manhole cover was so that we could get away.

"Get in there!" I harshly roared at Sissi, who jumped at my sudden exclamation. But she started climbing down without a complaint. Then it was followed by the others. But they were getting a lot closer. Me and Ulrich had to kick a few of them back so that everyone had time to climb down.

"You go,"I told Ulrich once Jeremy went down far enough. He nodded before starting to climb down the ladder. I hit another zombie with a jumping scissor kick to knock her into a tree. Luckily Return to the Past existed. Otherwise, that student would be very sore the next morning.

"Come on!" Ulrich said. Now was the perfect time to formal try that idea I had.

I grabbed the manhole cover and just jumped down the hole without bothering to grab the ladder. Less than ten bars down is when I grabbed ahold of a bar. When my feet were just dangling over the ground before I let it go. Best part is that my hands didn't really get affected.

"Nice," Sissi and Ulrich said at the same time, who looked at each other once they did.

"Thank you. I suppose it was just as nice as, I don't know... yelling to give away our location?" I said, locking Sissi with a look as serious as death itself. She had the decency to turn red under my gaze while rubbing the back of her head.

"I'm sorry about that," Sissi said.

"No, you're not. If they caught us, then we all would've been sorry. Let's just continue," I said, going down the tunnel. I grabbed an idle pipe I saw on the ground before continuing. It was at my side, but my shoulders were tensed up for a fight. Then I could feel someone staring holes at the back of my neck.

I turned, and there was no one looking at me. Sissi was looking at the ground with something that resembled an ashamed look, which kind of surprised me. I bit my lip. Maybe I was a little to harsh. She was scared after all. Don't know why considering she had Ulrich with her, but whatever. I couldn't really brood on that now.

"Swing down," I said, pulling a rope towards Sissi. My tone was curt, but polite. She grabbed ahold of the rope and swung down along with Jeremy and Aelita. Well, at least she pays attention in gym.

I was the last to go as Ulrich, Odd, and Yumi were the ones to go next before I jumped down next to them without my legs wavering as I continue walking towards the elevator. Once we were all in, I hit the button with force.

"How do you know about this place?" Sissi asked.

"It's one of our favorite places to go. It's where Yumi and Ulrich go to make out like monkeys when we're not here," I said with the straightest face ever and an even tone. This attitude is the likely candidate of what caused both people in question to blush like crazy and back away from me, while Odd started laughing, and Aelita and Jeremy have to hide their grins.

"That's not funny," Sissi said with somewhat of a stern look. But then again, her reaction was not what I expected. Not as explosive somehow. Maybe it was the fear of the situation.

"Alright. Head into the scanners and I'll get you down to Lyoko," Jeremy said.

"I'll stay in case the undead shows up here. I can help keep them back," Ulrich said. I nodded and clapped him on the shoulder before heading back into the elevator. Within minutes, we were all virtualized on Lyoko and I flexed my shoulders.

 _"Here's the Overwing and Overboard,"_ Jeremy said as the vehicles in question were virtualized in front of us. _"But I think you can managed quite well without one, don't you think Robert?"_ I grinned at his playful attitude before I looked at Aelita, who grinned as well. She then hopped on my back before I started dashing towards the tower with Odd and Yumi taking to the skies behind me.

I leaped down from a giant rock formation before landing deftly on my feet and continuing. The tower was in sight, but guarded by half a dozen crabs. Great.

"Ah, look at the amount of seafood that's around the tower. Shall we chop em up?" I said with a grin.

"As long as we cook em later," Odd said with a grin as well. I grinned, looked at him as I was running, and nodded in agreement.

"Get me close. I can drop a big enough rock to destroy two of them," Aelita said. I nodded before jumping in the air to land on Yumi's Overwing, kind of teetering it off balance.

"Keep it steady Yumes. Just get me close without getting shot," I told her, patting her on the shoulder. She nodded while moving into a dive among the crabs firing at us. Then there were crabs taking potshots at Odd, who was returning fire in kind.

Then soon after we went into a dive, a giant rock started to form above the crabs. I then made a jump off the Overwing before summoning one of my swords to my hand and throwing it into the crab below me. One of the crabs dodged the rock Aelita summoned, but she did get one. And my sword hit the crab I aimed for dead on. I smiled.

"Bullseye," I said, imitating Erron Black from Mortal Kombat as I said it. Couldn't resist.

 _"Kick their butts you guys!"_ a voice said from the sky it seemed. Wait, hold up. That sounded like the method Jeremy used to...

 _"Sissi, give me the headset back!"_ Jeremy said, grunting with effort. I groaned in an exasperated fashion. This was not happening. This could not be happening.

"Sissi, are you fucking serious?" Yumi questioned with a growl. I looked at her with somewhat of a surprise considering her language, but she wasn't focused on me considering she was dodging laser fire that was being fired at her from the air.

It's what I should've done because my lack of attention caused me to run straight into a laser shot that a crab had lead to hit me. I slid several meters on my stomach as I didn't want Aelita to take the brunt, but I did end up getting flipped on my back at one point.

"Oh, fuck," I said, flipping to to get back on my feet. "You alright?"

"Fine. Just need to gather my bearings," Aelita said, drawing a sword and handing it to me. "Try it one handed. Might be easier on you."

"Let's see," I said, taking the sword and starting to deflect the lasers heading my way. I batted back lasers at the crabs with effortless twirls that I couldn't do with two blades. I think I was better with one sword than I was with two. Plus I was able to fire lightning with my free hand to stun two of the crabs at the same time.

"Huh. You were right," I said idly.

"Told you," Aelita said with a grin.

"Thanks for the assist!" Odd exclaimed, coming down from the air and firing Laser Arrows at the crabs I stunned. They quickly got destroyed while the other two crabs were distracted from an evasive Yumi.

"Don't you know it's impolite to shoot at a lady?" I said before jumping over at the crabs and impaling one in their target area before Yumi threw a fan at the second crab to destroy it as she had the breathing room to do that. I jumped off with an elegant backflip before landing in front of the crabs, who exploded as soon as I landed.

"Boom. Crushed it," I said with a satisfied smile on my face while stepping forward in a type of "Step up" sort of fashion.

"That lightning of yours really makes this easier," Yumi said, jumping off the Overwing and landed next to us. Odd quickly followed her example and landed next to me.

"Yeah, it really helps. But I believe our princess has to reclaim her throne?" I said, lowering down to let her down easier.

"How kind of you, noble knight," Aelita said with a wide smile before heading towards the tower.

"You keep that up, and I'm going to believe you were truly a knight and a princess in a previous life," Odd said.

"Very fitting, I must say though," I said with a smile before the Return to the Past function activated and my vision was engulfed by white.


	19. Chapter 19 - Mind Games

Episode References: XANA's Kiss

* * *

"That's quite the track record," I said after Odd went over the fact that he dated every girl in the eighth grade.

"So you've dated every girl in the eighth grade?" Ulrich questioned.

"Everyone except Heidi Cleaner," Odd said.

"Are you trying to set a record or something?" Jeremy questioned.

"No way. I'm just searching for true love. I don't have it as easy as you all do," Odd said.

"Believe me, Ulrich has it anything but easy in his case," I said, jerking my thumb towards the guy in question.

"Amen to that," Ulrich said.

"Well, look who's here. My dear Ulrich. Want to go see a movie with me this afternoon?" Sissi suddenly asked. Ulrich scrunched his face up, but it was not in a mock way. He was actually thinking about it.

"Depends on what's playing," he asked.

"Adventure in the Traffics," Sissi said.

"No thanks. Those kinds of movies aren't my style. Shame," Ulrich said, walking away. We followed after him, and I looked at him with a curious look.

"I saw that you were actually thinking about it," I told him. Odd looked at Ulrich in astonishment.

"Wow, you were? I was beginning to think you would be like the rest of us and despise Sissi for the rest of her existence," he said.

"I don't despise her. If she'd learn to have a better attitude, I'd definitely grow to like her better than I do now," Ulrich said.

"Same goes for me. She acts pretty entitled just about all the time," I said, leading the way into the bathroom. But then a muttered with somewhat of a malevolent tone, "And the absolute bullshit that she put me through with that skewed plan of hers."

I walked out of the bathroom and went straight to my room to get ready. I smiled as I looked at the flowers I had on my desk. I never thought I would get a gift of this magnitude of cheese, but I guess it's true what they say when you never know.

I took a deep breath in the flowers and loved the smell that radiated from them. No wonder it was a good gift. They smell good. I also noticed that my nose doesn't randomly refuse to stop working on me most days. It's strange that a universe with a homicidal AI is better for my health than my regular one.

I walked out with the flowers in my hand and a satisfied smile on my face. I figured it was nice to randomly give gifts. On Saturdays, the school time was cut really short, so I had time to give this to her. Maybe a little making out in her room. I just hope I don't have to Call of Duty Dolphin Dive under her bed again like I had to do once before.

Once I went outside, I looked right over across the yard and saw a number of students there. But it didn't take me long to distinguish Emily out of the crowd.

As I was walking over there with the flowers behind my back, she had walked over to William and grabbed him by his neck to pull him into a kiss. Shock was the thing that immediately clicked when I saw it. But somehow, with surprisingly less effort than I expected, I calmed down. I was going to inquire more before I got caught up in my feelings. I was going to be smart about this.

"William, you got ten seconds to move before I break your neck," I said evenly as I was looking down when I moved in between them. I wasn't really going to do it. I wanted him to get away from here. He was completely innocent on this regard.

"I swear, I had nothing to do with that," William said, shaking his hands.

"Ten..." I counted down. He immediately turned the other direction before I turned to face Emily and forcefully grabbed her hand to check for the promise ring I gave her. "No tricks from you, XANA!" I exclaimed.

But I was met only with more shock as I saw that the exact ring I gave her was there. I don't think XANA can just duplicate objects like that. I held her face and examined it from detail to detail. There were no XANA symbols popping up anywhere.

"Let go of me! I don't know what this XANA thing is, but you better release me before I start telling teachers!" Emily exclaimed. I let her go while looking at her with a shock that shut every nerve in my body down. This really was her. The grip I had on the flowers in my hand tightened tight enough to choke someone out, but I only lowered my head in defeat and walked away.

 _"Are you really surprised? William's a much better man than you could hope to be. Not smarter, but definitely better looking, charming, and more reliable. What are you? Some awkward little nerd trying to play hero that can't satisfy one girl?"_ I thought as I walked. Another when case when my mind just decides to fuck me over. But I just couldn't help but feel like this was coming. Like this was going to happen to me.

I opened my door and slammed it before throwing the flowers on my bed and lying on it with a type of emptiness that I've never felt before. There's nothing like seeing the girl you care about lock lips with another guy. And I knew he wasn't expecting it. I could tell by the look on his face when she kissed him. So I couldn't be mad at him. But I know I could be upset at Emily.

There was a soft knock on my door, and I closed my eyes tighter. I did not want to open that door. I really didn't.

"Robert?" I heard Aelita question through the door. I still didn't get up to get it. I just wanted to sit here and sulk.

"Please open the door. I really need to talk," Aelita said, her voice sounding sad. Her tone caught my attention and regardless of the emptiness I felt, I tried to pull myself together and act like a rock for my friends. At least I hadn't been betrayed by them like that. If they needed my help, I was going to give it and put my sulking aside for a little while.

I opened the door at a moderate speed and noticed that Aelita looked pretty upset. This caused my attempt at an emotionless expression to turn into a frown.

"Come in," I said, gesturing her to walk past. Aelita walked past me and sat on my bed. "Are you ok?"

"Not really. I don't really want to talk about it. I just want something to take my mind off things," she said, before picking up the flowers. "These for Emily?"

An underhanded thought immediately came to my mind. The sensible part of me was arguing that it was a bad idea, but the more emotional part of me was thirsty for some kind of ease. Some kind of recompense. My emotional side won out.

"How about we take a walk?" I said, walking over to pick up the flowers. "It'll take your mind off things."

"You gonna go give the flowers to Emily?" Aelita asked.

"Why would I when they're for you?" I said, holding the flowers out towards her with the most charming smile I could muster. Aelita looked at me with a shocked expression.

"Me? But..."

"Just walk with me," I said, handing the flowers to her and placing an arm around around her shoulder.

"Uh... well, ok," Aelita said. I held the door open for her as she held the flowers in her hands. She stuck her face in them a little more and took a big whiff.

"Hmm. These smell nice. What are they?" Aelita asked.

"Lilacs. Smell nice, don't they?" I asked.

"Very. These would definitely keep my room smelling nice."

"Hope they do. Also, tell me what had you down earlier."

"It's ok. I feel a lot better now," Aelita said with a smile.

"You know that doesn't work with me," I told her. Aelita sighed.

"I saw Jeremy kissing some girl. The thing is that I don't even know her name. Are you sure he's interested in me? Because not only has he never shown much interested in me, he's kissing this other girl behind my back..." Aelita said, her face stressed and her expression lost.

"I don't know. The world's going mad. I really want it to be XANA, but I looked in her eyes and saw no symbol and saw those familiar brown eyes that I had grown to love... I just... I don't know," I said, rubbing my forehead.

"You too?" Aelita asked, her expression shocked.

"Me too," I said solemnly. Neither of had words to say after that. I was so damn distracted, I didn't notice anything fishy about her statement. Even though something was obviously wrong considering that's behavior very unlike Jeremy.

Instead of my original destination to head outside, we ended up at Aelita's room, and she set the flowers on her table. I leaned on her door with my eyes closed.

"I don't have a vase to put them in, but I'll see what I can do later," Aelita said before I could hear her sigh. "I know it's not easy to deal with what you are considering you both were already together, but..."

"I just want to forget about it, ok? I just... I want to be happy. I want to be able to be in a relationship that I can keep up and be happy with. Not to lose out to a guy who is and will always be better looking and charismatic than me," I said, opening my eyes and looking to the ceiling.

"Personally, I don't get why she did what she did. The way you asked her to be your girlfriend on Valentine's Day was one of the sweetest things I have ever seen. How do you... how do people just let something like that go?" Aelita asked.

"Because for some people, the sweet, romantic act is pathetic. Plus when there's someone better looking than you, you aren't enough to sedate their urges. They need more. Enough is never enough. And here I was thinking it was going to be different," I said, clenching my fists and slamming the palms against my forehead. "I gave it my all, and it wasn't enough."

"I'm sorry," Aelita said.

"Not your fault. It's a curse on me I guess. Not only have I not dated much, I have to wade through the pile of shit girls along the way. I can't catch a break!" I said, smashing my fist on the door while looking down at the ground. Now I was getting emotional, which wasn't a thing that happened often. I tried to avoid getting caught up in my feelings, but sometimes it was unavoidable.

"If it makes you feel any better, I wouldn't do you like that. I'd cherish such kindness rather than throw it away," Aelita said. I smiled.

"I know you would. But others are not like you, though I really wish they were," I said. Aelita walked up to me.

"If what we saw really was XANA, then we'll know soon enough. But if it's not, we'll deal with it accordingly. You want to?" she asked.

"If it does prove to be XANA, I'll have my girlfriend back and your hopes with Jeremy won't be all but dashed. Let's check the computer," I said, walking out of the room.

In the hopes of holding on to some small hope that XANA may have been behind this and that my girlfriend was actually faithful to me, I wanted to check the scanner. Man, emotion really does blind you. I don't know why I didn't check the scanner in the first place rather than just relying on the hope that I would see XANA's symbol in her eyes. Who was to say that XANA hadn't found a way to hide his symbols? I wasn't as level headed as I thought when it came down to it.

"Yup. That's exactly it," I said as I checked the computer. "I'll tell you what. XANA knows how to play some serious mind games."

"You're definitely right about that. I need to call the others," I said, using my phone to dial Odd's number. But I got no answer. Went straight to voice mail.

"Dammit," I muttered, instantly dialing Ulrich's number. But again, I got no answer. "No one's picking up? What the hell?"

"Let me try," Aelita said, fishing her phone out of her pocket and calling someone. But she got the same result that I did. "Are you serious?"

"That's what I'm thinking. Did they run out of phone service or something?" I asked.

"I don't... Wait, if XANA posed as Jeremy to mess with me, and posed as Emily to mess you, then..."

"It's more than likely he did the same thing for the others. So we'll have to find them. Ulrich will more than likely be in his dorm sulking. You go get Jeremy," I said, making her nod. We walked out of my room, and were immediately confronted by Emily.

"Just what were you two doing in there?" she asked me.

"Work. It's a program the both of us are working on," I lied coolly. Somehow, the words came out like I was telling the truth. Even I almost believed it. I guess lying was getting easier and easier.

"Really? Then what did I hear from my best friend that you kissed her?" Emily asked.

"I didn't," I said honestly before thinking, _"Damn, XANA. You move fast."_

"So what? Was she lying?" Emily asked.

"She was either lying or is going crazy. I don't know which," I said before turning to Aelita, who was gone. "Look, we'll delve into this situation later. I need to talk with Ulrich about something important." Without giving her time to continue, I walked off and went into Ulrich's room. As predicted, he was lying on his bed in a sulking fashion.

"Great. You need to start answering your phone. XANA's up and running. It wasn't Yumi you saw. It was a shapeshifter," I told him. Ulrich sat up and looked me strangely.

"Are you serious?" he asked.

"Yes. He did the same thing to me with Emily, and the same thing to Aelita with Jeremy. It's safe to say the same happened to Jeremy and Odd, cause neither of them are answering," I told him. Ulrich stood up and we strode out of my room before we met up with Aelita and Jeremy in the middle of the hallway.

"Took me forever to talk him into checking the scanner for whatever reason," Aelita said, making Jeremy rub the back of his head in embarrassment.

"Look, Aelita..."

"No explanation needed," Aelita said, hold up a hand and cutting him off abruptly. "I... never mind. Where's Odd and Yumi?"

"Don't know what happened to Odd or Yumi," Ulrich said as the bell rang.

"I'm going to try to call Yumi," I said, dialing the number quickly.

"Hello?" Yumi asked on the other line.

"XANA. If you see Odd, get him to the factory. We have no idea where he is. But in the meanwhile, keep your eyes open for anything that resembles us. XANA's newest creation can shapeshift," I told her.

"Will do," Yumi said, hanging up. I then turned to the others.

"I don't think we have the time running around in circles looking for XANA. If they find us, they'll find us," I said, putting on the pair of rubber gloves that I was starting to keep in my pocket on a daily basis.

"What are those for?" Jeremy asked as I was putting them on.

"For XANA. They negate the electricity that he shoots at me. It was a gamble the first time I tried them, but it worked," I told them.

"That's really smart. Why haven't any of us thought of that?" Ulrich asked.

"Maybe I'm just smarter than you all," I said with a cheeky grin. I got a punch in my arm from Aelita, but I could tell it was a playful one.

"Don't get carried away now," she said playfully.

"You all know I'm kidding. You all know something I don't know. You're all beautiful and unique little snowflakes," I said almost sarcastically. But it was more on the joking side.

"Let's just go instead of playing around," Jeremy said with a roll of his eyes.

"Yeah," I said, scolding myself for getting us side tracked when XANA was on the loose. Then before I knew it, Odd was sliding down the hall towards us and we had to move out of the way as not to get hit by his sliding body.

"Well, there's Odd. But..." I said before looking up. I saw that XANA's shapeshifter in the form of Jim. In the back of my mind, I knew that the correct term was polymorphic specter, but shapeshifter sounded so much better. Cause it literally summoned up what it was with the two words that were in its name.

"Are we going to play this game again?" I questioned as I looked at the shapeshifter.

"This time there's a new contestant," Ulrich said, taking his fighting stance. I nodded and took my own fighting stance, which was basically me with one of my fists high in the air, the other one low. "Ready?"

"As always," I said as we charged towards Jim at a top speed. Unable to handle both of us at the same time, XANA opted for turning intangible so our dropkicks would sail right through him. Though we both recovered with a swift turn and our hands steadying us before we flipped back onto our feet.

"Coward. Come on. Fight us. Unless you're afraid," I said, holding my arms out. Talking shit seemed to be my prerogative when it came to XANA. My way of goading him into making a mistake. Though it was a machine rather than person, I would like to think it grasped the concept of emotions.

That seemed to be the case when XANA charged towards us with lightning enhanced fists. He then began striking at us with one fist at a time, moving at a blindingly fast speed. Me and Ulrich had to move our hands deftly to repel his attacks. Then as one, we both grabbed his fist that was coming at us and kicked his knees to force him to the ground. Me and Ulrich smirked before I hit him with a clothesline at his height to knock him on his back before Ulrich did several back flips with a final extravagant flip to gain a lot of height before coming down on Jim's face with a hard elbow before it was followed by several more to finish the job. He did not get up.

Me and Ulrich pointed finger guns at each other in a stylish way before high-fiving with both hands and let out a proud shout.

"You two look like you belong in a wrestling arena," Jeremy said as he was watching the both of us celebrate.

"I've been waiting to pull that move off!" I exclaimed with happiness in my voice.

"It certainly looked painful. He's not getting up anytime soon," Aelita said idly as she looked at the unconscious body of the specter. But soon after she said that, its eyes snapped open.

"This thing doesn't stay down as long as it should," I said before kicking him before he could get back up and doing it several more times to make sure.

"Probably cause it's not a real human body. If that was the case, that would've had him down for a while," Jeremy said, rubbing his chin in thought.

"Then there's no time to waste. Let's go!" I exclaimed, gesturing for them to move past me. Everyone then started running towards the factory with me right behind them. Blood was pumping my veins as I recalled the sadness I had suffered because of XANA. He really had me thinking that my girlfriend was unfaithful. That I wasn't worth much. And so were my friends. Without my knowing, a furious snarl crept its way onto my face and I could feel the corner of my mouth twitching. Again, it was one of those moments where I felt true anger.

I ended up overtaking the others without my knowing, and I tended to use the rails as sliding pipes like I was Sly Cooper. No matter what, I refused to stop. I was on a drive. An angry drive. When everything caught up to me, it proved to be more overwhelming than I could handle.

"There you are," Yumi said as she was leaning on a scanner. "Where are the others?"

"They'll be here soon. I just kind of got here quicker than they did. That's all," I said calmly. Then I barely caught the movement. With fast reflexes, I deflected the kick Yumi tried to hit me with before looking at her with a serious look as I gently pushed her back.

"The hell are you doing? I know you're not XANA, cause I left him unconscious back at the school. Well, he's likely to be awake now, but you get my point," I said as I looked at her.

"I thought you were XANA. I don't see you leaving the others behind," Yumi said, easing up.

"I'm sorry. I'm just on edge," I said, rubbing my temples.

"What happened?" Yumi asked.

"You can guess. XANA posing as Emily like that really fucked with my head. Now that I know this is all a ploy by him, I just... I got so angry. A type of anger that I've hardly ever felt. When I feel pure anger, it's serious," I said, leaning my hand on the scanner.

"Yeah. XANA did the same thing to me with Ulrich," Yumi said, making me pursue my lips. "What?"

"In most cases, I wouldn't say anything, but I'm too angry to care right now. Do you even like Ulrich?" I asked.

"What?" Yumi asked, sounding completely dumbfounded as if I just asked her to strip where she stood.

"You heard me. Do you actually like him? Or are you just possessive of him if he focuses on any girl but you? Cause I'm tired of this shit," I said, drawing myself up off the scanner to look at her better.

"W-what kind of question is that?" Yumi asked, very surprised at the accusation.

"Answer the question," I said with a serious expression. And it was somewhat angry as well. Cause I was mad at the state she left him in sometimes. I don't care if she is my friend. That's a load of shit. If anything, I wasn't being a good friend if I didn't address it.

"Did you have to leave us in the dust?" Odd asked once the others arrived to the scanner room.

"Sorry. I was just a little driven to get here," I said, turning away from Yumi and trying to calm myself down. Or at least make myself appear calm.

"Driven isn't the word I'd use. You were moving like a ninja," Odd said.

 _"Not the time for this guys. Get into the scanners,"_ Jeremy said.

"My pleasure," I said as I stepped into the scanner. Once I hit the ground of the Sector, I immediately drew my swords and looked around in case there were any monsters, but there weren't.

"It's fine," Aelita said soothingly in my ear. I holstered my swords, and my shoulders slumped more in relaxation.

"Yeah. Just on edge," I said evenly as the others landed.

"Tower's just up ahead," Yumi said, pointing at said tower that was ahead of us. I turned to Aelita and she expertly flipped on my back before I put my feet on the tips and Force Sprinted towards the tower.

 _"Hurry up!"_ Jeremy exclaimed.

"You don't think I'm going as fast as I can?" I questioned rhetorically before I saw a laser shot had hit the ground ahead of me. I looked behind me to see that four hornets were behind us and they were closing in fast.

"Aelita? You have any ideas?" I asked her.

"One," Aelita said, taking one hand off my neck. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see that she had her hand raised and she had made a spiked rock before tossing it at the rock. It didn't have the height or the speed to do any real damage to it. Me running this way would definitely not help with that.

"That's not going to work. Velocity's working against you while I'm running this way," I told her.

"Jeremy, do you think you can get our vehicles here?" Aelita asked.

 _"Coming right up. In the meantime, try to hold yourself off,"_ Jeremy said.

"I'll see if I can just leg it to the tower. Maybe we'll actually get lucky," I told him.

 _"Alright, but be careful. You never know,"_ Jeremy said.

"Believe me. I know," I said as I continued to run towards the tower, but then a crab and a tarantula spawned right in front of me.

"Shit," I said, bracing my legs before jumping past the bridge so that I could land on top of the crab and make another jump off of it to keep going. But as I was in the air after jumping off the crab, I heard Aelita give off a groan of pain that suggested she got shot. I ended up stopping right behind a rock and the hornets wheeled past me.

"Ah, dammit. You alright?" I asked, drawing my swords.

"I'm fine. Just hurts my back a little. It's gone now," Aelita said, getting off my back. "Nothing to do but face them, huh?"

"Exactly, but we'll be ready. I really should teach you how to use one of these things one day," I said, gesturing one of my swords towards her before it had to came up quick to deflect the lasers that were coming after me when the hornets made their full turn and saw us.

"Jeremy, we're pinned down," Aelita said as I was moving my swords to deflect the lasers coming after us.

 _"Ulrich, Odd, Yumi, you should be able to push up soon. I'm getting your vehicles,"_ Jeremy said.

"Tell them to make it fast!" I said, still deflecting. Then at one point, the hornets moved to shoot acid at me and I had to quickly put my swords away, grab Aelita from up under her legs, put her on my shoulder, and jump high in the air and over the rock to avoid the acid. "Shit, I forgot they could do that."

"Robert!" Aelita exclaimed. I looked back to see that I landed near the crab and it tried to hit me with one of its spiked legs. I had to move to the side while drawing my sword with my one free hand and cutting its leg off before jumping right over it while throwing my sword in the center of its target area in the meanwhile. I quickly summoned it back so that I could deflect while I still had Aelita on my shoulder.

"You're doing a good job," Aelita said.

"Thank you. I'd like to think so," I said as I was deflecting. Again, my blood was boiling as the thoughts ran through my head. It came too fast in my head and I started seeing tunnel vision. It only caused me to lose focus, which in turn, caused me to get shot from getting distracted.

"Oh. That's what I get for losing focus," I said as I looked up to see that the Hornets were coming after us at a fast rate and now the tarantula was starting to catch up. I threw my hand out to try and help myself get to my feet while shooting a torrent of lightning at it to stun it so I could get some breathing room.

But then a screech reminded me of the tarantula that was coming my way. It set its hands down and began to fire, but before I could even raise my sword, Aelita balled her hand into a fist while pulling it closer to her, and suddenly a rock cage was closed around us.

"Thanks. Might have been a little late there," I said, noticing there was a hole to the top.

"That's so you can get back," Aelita said, knowing that I was curious about the hole at the top. "No one should be able to get to me here."

"Thanks. But still stay alert and safe. You never know," I warned her, putting an arm on her shoulder.

"Don't worry about it. It's me, remember?" Aelita said in the same self-confident tone I used whenever I was about to do something stupid or reckless or both. I grinned.

"You sound just like me. Don't know whether that's a good or bad thing," I said before jumping out of the hole at the top while just keeping one sword drawn. I wanted to test this ability out better.

After hearing an explosion to the right of me, I saw that Ulrich, Aelita, and Yumi were coming towards us on their vehicles. Looks like they dealt with their portion of monsters and finally got up here to help me out.

"Need a hand?" Ulrich asked with a smirk.

"I could use it," I said as Yumi jumped in the air and threw her fans. The both of them were spot on and destroyed two of the hornets that were pursuing us. Ulrich stood next to me with his sword directed at the hornets.

"Get in. I'll cover you," I said, holstering my swords.

"Can do," Ulrich said before moving in.

I then started shooting lightning out of both of my hands and engulfing two of the hornets in it. The other hornet managed to move out of the way in time to not get hit by the lightning and started shooting at me. But Ulrich moved from under the lightning coming from my hands and deflected the laser while eyeing the hornet. Odd took the opportunity to fire several laser arrows at the hornet while it was distracted and destroyed it. Then Ulrich jumped in the air with his sword at the side and slashed the hornet while he was going by. One more fan from Yumi, and it was over.

"I make a pretty good bug zapper," I said, wiping imaginary dust off of my shoulders with a smile full of swagger. Yumi rolled her eyes.

"Are you gonna stand there or tell Aelita the danger has passed?" she asked.

"Duly noted," I said before peeking down into the hole that she was in with a teasing grin on my face. "Having fun in there?"

"Most fun I've had in my life. It _just_ beats out the chemistry exam we had a while ago," Aelita said in a flat voice. My grin got even wider before I reached a hand down into the hole for her to grab. She grabbed my hand firmly and I pulled her out of the cage.

"Now you've got a tower to deactivate," I said, gesturing for her to go inside.

"You can deactivate towers too, you know," Aelita said, rubbing her shoulders. I rose myself up haughtily.

"And desecrate thy heavenly woman's throne with my lower class meat mitts? Heavens no!" I said in a knight accent, sending her into a giggle fit.

"Why do you say stuff like this? You know I find it funny!" Aelita said through her laughing.

"Cause it's just me. But in all seriously though, it's your thing. I don't plan on deactivating any tower unless I absolutely have to. It's your job," I said, pointing at her.

"I know why you're saying that. Thanks," Aelita said.

"You're welcome," I said with a nod. She walked off towards the tower, and I crossed my arms while watching her head towards the tower so that hopefully, there would be no screw ups.

"You two have the most dynamic relationship I've seen," Ulrich said.

"That's cause its how we work. I'm slowly growing her up in my own type of way. And I also want for us to have fun. She is definitely one of the closest friends I've had," I told him honestly.

 _"Yeah. There's just something about her that either makes you love her or hate her. And it's hard to hate her,"_ Jeremy said, injecting himself into the conversation.

"Excuse me? Have you not met Sissi?" Odd said, making me grin.

"Don't even get me started. You know I'm trying not to hold a grudge. I just don't have the time to be brooding on that," I said, shaking my head.

 _"Ok, the tower has been deactivated. I'm starting the Return to the Past,"_ Jeremy interrupted before the white light started to engulf us. Then we were right back to before I had gone to give the flowers to Emily. After taking one look at them, I knew that before I went to take these to Emily, I needed to talk to Aelita first.

Didn't take me long to find her. It seemed like she was trying to find me as well.

"You had something to talk to me about?" I asked.

"Yes. Those flowers..." Aelita said, pointing to the items in question. "They weren't initially for me, were they?"

"You found me out. That's actually what I was going to tell you about," I said, rubbing my head in embarrassment. "Look, I'm sorry about that -"

"No need to apologize..." Aelita said, but I shook my head.

"Yes there is. Because that was a very wrong thing to do. At one point, you have to realize that if and when people do you wrong and you don't take some type of action, they might continue to do it. And even then, it's never ok to use anyone as an object to aid you in your jealously driven payback. I... I just got frustrated, I got insecure, and..."

"Robert, _it's ok._ At least in this case. Because I could see myself doing the exact same thing if I was in your shoes. There are just some things you can't take lying down, and if that turned out to be true, that was definitely one of them," Aelita said in a reassuring voice. That tone was one that somehow gave you the feeling that everything was going to be ok. Even if it wasn't. It was like a spell.

"I definitely owe you," I told her.

"You don't owe me a thing," Aelita said.

"Yes, I do. Actually..." I said, digging in my pockets before pulling out some money and handing it to her. "If you can get Jeremy to actually get away from his computer, take him out. Have some alone time and maybe finally tie him down. If you can't manage that, I don't care what you spend it on. None of my business."

"Wow. Thank you," Aelita said. I raised a hand.

"No thanks needed. Just do what you have to do. Now go on," I said, pushing her to head off the other way. I looked at the flowers in my hand and walked off to go find Emily. I was still on a reduced school day, so I had a little bit of time to find her. It took me a bit to find her, but I could see her talking with her friend. By the way they were looking when I started walking up to them, something was wrong. The furrowed brows. The hushed whispers. The urgency that seemed to be lined on their face. I missed none of it.

"Did I miss something?" I asked when I walked up to them with my hands behind my back to hide the flowers.

"Save it," Emily said, her tone somewhat angry. I had to take a step back from the hostility.

"The hell's your problem?" I asked before taking my hands from behind my back to reveal the flowers. "That's quite a greeting for someone who was going to give you flowers."

"Wait, what?" Emily asked, her eyes wide at the sight.

"Flowers. For you. Not that hard to figure out it's a gift," I told her. Emily looked at her friend briefly who took a few steps back before turning on her heel and walking off very fast. I looked at her friend as she walked away before looking back at Emily.

"What was that all about?" I asked evenly before my tone turned stern. "You owe me an explanation for that attitude you gave me."

"Well, she saw you with Aelita with those flowers in your hand. She told me, and well... I kind of..." Emily said hesitantly. But no more had to be said at that point.

"You thought they were for Aelita," I said in a flat voice.

"...yeah," Emily said in a trailed whisper.

"Why would that bother you?" I asked curiously.

"What do you mean 'why would it bother me?' It obviously bothers me because..." Emily started, but I shook my hands to get her to stop.

"No, that part's obvious. Now for a learning experience. Flowers are a gift that are primarily beloved by females. So if I give another girl flowers, that automatically means I'm trying to put the moves on her? Is that your logic?" I questioned with a raised brow.

"It's everyone's logic. I'm sure she probably thought the same thing that I was when you walked up to her with them..."

"Actually no. She didn't bring that up at all. I guarantee you if I were to give her flowers, she wouldn't think of it like that. Cause that's just how she is. For her, intentions for her are better expressed verbally rather than through actions. If you don't give her a clear cut action, she won't think anything of it. Cause that's the type of person she is," I explained to her.

"You hold her pretty high," Emily said. Her voice would've been even if it didn't shake a little bit.

"Because she deserves it. She is definitely one of the best people I've had the good fortune of meeting. No doubts about that," I told her.

"Then why aren't you dating her instead of me?!" Emily suddenly yelled. I took a step back from her shout and put a hand over my heart in slight offense. But then I got the reason she was really upset. And the idea of it really puzzled me.

"Are you jealous of Aelita?" I asked, looking at her in a puzzled fashion.

"No," Emily said immediately.

"You said that way too quickly for it to be true. You are," I said in a tone that was definite. But then I had to smile. I looked down at the ground and had one of the widest smiles on my face.

"You think that's funny?" Emily asked, her tone angry.

"Not at all. I think it's adorable. Not to mention flattering. Never in a million years would I think someone like me enough to be jealous over _me._ That..." I said, giving off a short laugh while my voice was full of humor. "That is one thing I never would've expected to happen. It feels good."

"Well..." Emily trailed as she wiped her face. Now I noticed that a few tears had escaped her face. Dear God, I didn't know it was that bad.

"Listen to me," I said, holding her face tenderly while speaking a soft tone. "You don't have to worry about me turning on you. If anything, I'm more worried about it happening to me. Just cause I'm not good enough. I-"

"You can stop right there. You are more than good enough. You are wonderful. Whether you know it or not, you are a wonderful, smart, funny person that I would definitely say that anyone would be lucky to have you. _I'm_ lucky to have you. Not only that, you've definitely got the looks..." Emily trailed before her face turned slightly red.

"What? I know I'm not the best looking person, but.."

"But you are handsome nonetheless. Has anyone really told you this?" Emily asked.

"No. Haven't gotten any of that in my life," I told her honestly.

"Then I'm going to start. You're going to start hearing it every day until you get it in your head that you are good enough. Do not sell yourself short," Emily said. At that moment, I couldn't stop myself from kissing her. To hear those words and for them to be honest... To actually _mean_ something... it was one of the most heartening experiences of my life. Morale was definitely not my strong point in relationships.

"You're amazing," I said when I finally broke off her lips.

"And so are you. You just need to realize it," Emily said, placing a hand to the side of my face. I put my thumb and index finger under her chin and softly stroked it while looking at this girl with a new type of adoration. She believed things that I didn't believe myself. Brought out a type of self confidence that I could do this. _We_ could do this. We could make it. Just like I believed the same thing about this relationship, I believed it about XANA too. We can do this. We can do this.

"We _will_ do this," I said aloud as I captured her lips again.

* * *

A/N: Hope you don't mind the sad themes, but hey, they're needed sometimes. Not to mention they're pretty doggone fun to write.


	20. Chapter 20 - No Strength in Discretion

Episode References: Cold War

* * *

"Active alarm, no activated tower. I don't buy it," I said, standing on the left side of Jeremy.

"Well, I wasn't a hundred percent sure. I was pretty groggy," Jeremy said.

"Still, it's not an accident. XANA's up to something. He always is," I said with a frown.

"I... Odd! Can you make a little less noise?" Jeremy said, reference to all the rustling he was making from digging around in the trash.

"No! If I don't find a DVD of my short film in the next three seconds, I'll to turn into a pumpkin," Odd said.

"Then we'll just have to worry about you eating yourself," I said dryly.

"Which short film? _'Natural Grandeur Two,'_ or ' _I Guess our Guest is a Ghost?'"_ Ulrich asked.

 _"'I Guess Our Guest is a Ghost.'_ If you want me to become rich and famous, I absolutely have to give it to TV!" Odd said.

"You're going to give a DVD to television? How would that even work?" I questioned.

"No, no. His real name is Thomas Vincent. But he's the face news reporter on TV," Odd said, kicking the trash can into a corner. "TV! Get it?"

"That was corny. Even by our standards," I said, shaking my head.

"TV's gonna be here in five minutes!" Yumi said, bursting into the room.

"Hello to you too," me and Ulrich said at the same time.

"My career is nipped in the bud!" Odd exclaimed, falling on the desk and sobbing over dramatically. I looked at Aelita and Jeremy while pointing at Odd, and Jeremy shook his head while Aelita raised a hand. I could tell that basically meant, "Don't even bother with it." I couldn't agree more.

"Yes!" he suddenly said, noticing a disk on the table and immediately grabbing it. "Fame, fortune, and glory are mine!" I rolled my eyes. I expected a crash and burn.

* * *

I just started to tap my desk out of boredom. Again, class were boring when you knew just about everything there is to know. At least when it came to school stuff that was on a whole different level. After all, I was able to tell teachers things that they didn't know. And they had majors on the subject. Aelita was in the same boat that I was, so it seemed we had bright futures educational wise. So did Jeremy because he was a genius on his own. But anything could happen with the others.

"Poliakoth!" Mrs. Hertz suddenly said, who suddenly jerked his head up to look up at her. Then he quickly searched through his book to find something he could use to try and show that he was paying attention.

"One thousand five hundred and twenty seven tons," he said with this superior look on his face. I couldn't resist rolling my eyes at his stupidity.

"Really Nicholas?" Mrs. Hertz asked, with Nicholas getting this hesitant grin on his face as she started a slow clap. "Well done. You've solved the problem of world hunger." The entire class laughed and I couldn't resist a smirk at the clueless look on his face.

"Quiet down!" Mrs. Hertz told the class before someone walked into the classroom. It was a middle aged man with signs of graying in his hair. With a microphone in his hand. By the looks of things, he looked like a reporter. Maybe this was that 'TV' guy Odd mentioned. "Yes?"

"Give me a panoramic shot of the kids," he told his camerawoman, who did exactly that before Mrs. Hertz cleared her throat and stood in front of his face.

"Can I help you?" she asked.

"Yes. Get out of the shot," he said. I furrowed my brows. I could already tell I wasn't going to like this dude. But Mrs. Hertz simply harrumphed defiantly while not moving an inch. A smile began to curve on my lips. I liked this teacher.

"Do our schools still provide a future for our youth?" Faced with the teacher's lax attitudes," he said while looking towards the camera with gritted teeth.

 _"Apparently an asshole. Wonder if I'll soon be able to add arrogance onto that pile?"_ I thought to myself. TV then took a walk to make sure the camerawoman got a shot of every student.

"We have reason to doubt. To see how bad it's become, all you need to do is pick out a student at random and ask him his grade point average. You, for instance?" TV said, putting the mic towards Jeremy's direction. I had to hide a smirk.

"Ninety nine point eighty seven out of a hundred," Jeremy told him, TV's grin disappearing at an instant. Mrs. Hertz raised her head with her eyes closed with that superior look on her face. This one was much more well deserved.

"Ok, Katz. That's too high," the man said, having her cut the feed. My smirk was instantly replaced by a frown. "Who here as a below sixty average?"

Odd raised his hand, and I face palmed. Did he not see that he was making the school look bad on purpose by doing this? Apparently, his love for TV overshadowed common sense.

"Ok, son. So you're flunking out of school, right?" TV asked Odd.

"I wonder how much detention I'll get for chucking this table at his head. It might still be worth it," I told Jeremy and Aelita.

"Try and stay calm," Aelita told me. I gave her a nod, but who knows how long my calm would last. There was only so much I could take.

"This cannot be happening. What's with this bunch of-" TV was cut off by the bell ringing and the cheer of students. I had to hold in a cheer in myself. I couldn't wait to get away from this asshole before I did something he was going to regret. I was going to regret nothing.

"I'm so disgusted," Odd said.

"You mean you saw how much of a prick he was in there?" I asked, raising an eyebrow at Odd.

"Of course. TV didn't even want to see my masterpiece," Odd said with a glum look on his face. I nearly rolled my eyes, but Odd did seem rather down about the whole thing.

"To be honest, with a guy like that, I don't think you wanted your masterpiece in his hands anyway," I said.

"Yes I did!" Odd said as a counter argument.

"Think about this," I said before adjusting my voice to sound pretty much like his. Not precise, but good enough. "'This little project of yours is great son! We just gotta make a few changes. Like this. And this. And this. And this. And this.' See what I'm saying?"

"One, it's kind of scary how you were able to change your voice to be that good, and two, I see your point. Still, I worked hard on this," Odd said, looking at the disk in his hand. I put an arm around his shoulder.

"How about this. When someone else comes by, someone who isn't a complete prick, you talk to them and see how it goes," I told him, making Odd smile.

"You're really good at cheering people up, aren't you?" Odd asked, making me shrug with a grin on my face.

"I try. Now come one. Now's not a time to be glum. We gotta catch up with the others," I said, noticing that the others had already gone ahead of us. But then I felt my phone vibrate. I had a message on it that was followed by another one that I didn't even notice.

"S.O.S XANA. Where are you?" I said, reading the message aloud. "Shit."

"Let's book it to the factory then," Odd said, making me nod.

* * *

I landed with grace and immediately put Aelita on my back as per usual before looking around. All of us then dashed down a narrow pathway, making sure to stay within close proximity of each other.

 _"Watch it! You've got company!"_ Jeremy exclaimed.

"Let's do this," I said, drawing a sword. But as I looked up, I saw that there were about thirty hornets all lined up in an attack pattern. My eyes widened at the amount.

"Why are there so many?" I questioned before deflecting a few lasers away from me. But I didn't even have to ask. There was that feeling coming back again.

 _"I don't know, but I don't like it. You gotta try to take them out,"_ Jeremy said.

"I'm sure as hell going to try," I said before leaping in the air and taking out two of them as I held my sword out in front of me. I immediately turned while in midair to deflect lasers that were coming after me to redirect them back at the hornets. I managed to eliminate two hornets with those deflections. Two down, twenty-eight more to go.

"Laser Arrow!" I could hear Odd exclaim as I ran with Force Sprinting to gain some distance away from the hornets that were firing at me. I didn't have any space to evade, given that the path was so narrow, so I settled for batting away lasers whenever they were fired at me. Ten hornets on my tail, and there were still enough to keep the others busy.

"Great. Any ideas before we go back to where we spawned in?" I asked Aelita.

"We might want to link back up with the others. Our chances are better," she suggested.

"There's only the matter of doing so. Let's see if I still got it," I said before suddenly stopping and doing a giant backflip backwards. The hornets obviously didn't expect such a move, and I was able to get behind them, turn around, and immediately race off with a sprint. I decided to turn up the speed in this moment so we would have more of a distance advantage on them. I couldn't help but grin.

"Yup. I still got it," I said with a confident air.

I jumped and leaped in front of Odd, who was dodging laser fire, but I was able to redirect the fire near them as well.

"That was fast," Odd said as he turned to fire at some hornets on his left.

"I didn't take any of them out. They're coming back around soon," I said, deflecting lasers away from us. A few seconds later, there was a loud humming coming from the direction that we just came from.

"Everyone bring their insecticide?" Odd questioned.

"I'm afraid not," I said before shooting some lightning in the sky, the spread stunning the eighteen hornets that were around us. "Take out as many as you can while I have this up."

Immediately, Odd began shooting arrows like a madman and Yumi threw her fans in two different directions. Between their efforts, fourteen of the eighteen hornets were taken out before I had to direct my second hand to start deflecting. At one point, they started coming in from angles from where I couldn't keep up the lightning and deflect so I broke off the lightning and concentrated on the hornets.

"Still a good amount of these annoying things," I said before drawing a sword from my back and tossing it towards hornets. I only got one of them with that toss before it went back to the holster. "I got one."

"There's two more," Odd said, shooting and destroying them.

"Eleven more of these fuckers," I said, leaping in the air and stabbing a nearby hornet in midair. "Make that ten."

"Ya!" Yumi exclaimed, throwing her fans in the air and taking out three of them. "That's more of them down." After a few more laser arrows, fan throws, and sword attacks from me and Ulrich, all of the hornets were gone.

"Finally," I said, dashing up to the tower to drop Aelita off. "Now, that they're done, you can..." I then stopped myself as I looked at the tower.

"What is it?" Aelita asked.

"The tower's deactivating itself. Really?" I questioned, looking up at the tower in question.

 _"Now there's a tower activated in the Ice Sector!"_ Jeremy exclaimed.

"You have to be kidding me right now. What is with this?" I asked, shaking my head.

"Well, we can get there through this tower at least," Yumi said.

"Yeah. Let's try and make it fast," I said, heading towards the tower.

 _"No, wait! It's deactivating again!"_ Jeremy said.

"Is XANA malfunctioning? The hell is going on?" I asked.

 _"I wish I knew,"_ Jeremy said.

"Bring us back before another tower suffers from bipolar disorder," I said, walking into the nearby tower.

 _"Of course,"_ Jeremy said, typing on his computer.

* * *

"You think there's a new bug in the Supercomputer?" Aelita asked.

"A new tactic by XANA?" I questioned along with Odd. We looked at each other before looking back at Jeremy.

"Go on to lunch. I'll stay here and try to work all this out," Jeremy said.

"I'll handle it this time around. You could use a break," I said, letting him down from the chair as if he were a child.

"Aren't you hungry?" Jeremy said.

"When I'm working, I can last without food for a bit. It'll be fine," I assured him. I then looked at Aelita and gave her a small wink. She had to hide her grin. But by the thinly suppressed smirk from Odd, and the elbows from Ulrich and Yumi, it did not go unnoticed. Well, by everyone except for Jeremy.

"Why thank you. We'll let you know if anything changes," Jeremy said, handing me the headset. I nodded before placing it on my head and getting to work on the computer.

"Let's try running a diagnostic test on the scanner," I thought aloud, furiously typing on the computer. I had the layout of the Computer's scanner memorized, so I would see if anything was out of place. The thing is that it wasn't. Which was even more puzzling.

A beeping sound alerted me to the sound of another activated tower showing up. Instead of calling the others, I decided to wait it out and see what happened. Was it going to deactivate again?

Moments passed. Moment after moment after moment. And the tower was still active. Ok, this one was real. So that was my cue to use the computer to immediately get Ulrich on the phone.

 _"Perfect timing. All of a sudden, it started snowing here!"_ he exclaimed.

"Snowing? I don't like the sound of that. He definitely isn't doing it so we can have some school days off. This tower is real though. It didn't deactivate. Go ahead and get here. Tell me if you need my help," I told him.

 _"Alright, I gotcha,"_ Ulrich said before disconnecting the call. I leaned back in the chair to relax a little while waiting for the others. That barely lasted before I got a call from Jeremy.

 _"Bad news. XANA has us trapped here at school!"_ he exclaimed.

"Are you serious?" I said, tapping my fingers on the chair's arm. "Ok, I got an idea. Try to find some winter clothes, break a window open, and shovel some of the snow out of your way."

 _"And where do you suppose we find a shovel?"_ Jeremy asked.

"Improvise? Use a desk if you have to. Just try to get here," I said, cutting the call off. "Thank God I still have heat and power here. Thank you, uranium generators." Then another call came up after a few more minutes, which I immediately took.

 _"Even more bad news. The windows are iced! No matter how hard we hit, we can't break through!"_ Ulrich exclaimed, making my eyes widen.

"You cannot be serious! You just can't be!" I said, standing up as my heart began to race. But then my heart chilled at another thought. "How's... everyone else?"

 _"Not the greatest. They're down in the boiler room. Even with that, it's almost zero degrees in there with it being negative sixty outside if Jim's thermometer is correct,"_ Ulrich said, making me grip my chair tightly. "All of us are freezing in here, and there's no way to get out." I couldn't stop myself from pounding a fist on the desk in my frustration. But then I steeled my nerves. I knew what I had to do.

"Keep the others inside and keep them as warm as possible," I said, furiously typing on the keyboard before standing up and walking off. I could hear a faint voice coming from the headset, but I ignored it and walked down to the scanners. Within seconds, I was transferred and virtualized. I then immediately went into a sprint that was faster than usual. I didn't even notice through the blood pounding in my ears. The furious pounding in my heart. The fear that was going through my gut. It all desensitized me to everything that wasn't the drive that was fueling me.

I saw a shadow below me as I ran, and I looked up to see that there were flying mantas above me. Which was really strange considering that they normally didn't pop up outside of Sector Five. It definitely seemed like XANA was getting stronger and stronger. The moves he's pulling attest to that. Thirty hornets at one time, tower activation and deactivation fakeouts, and now mantas. Fucking excellent.

But they were still not faster than me as I went towards the tower. The sound of lasers firing filled my ears and I drew a sword before instantly batting them away. My main focus was getting to that tower. But then I was forced to halt in my tracks at what was waiting for me in front of the tower. Two Tarantulas and the Scyphozoa. Are. You. Fucking. Kidding. Me.

 _"Let's work fast. No backup this time,"_ I thought through the pounding in my head before putting a lot of force into my legs and hopping into the air. I landed on a manta to ride him before shooting lightning at one of the manta and throwing one of my swords at it, destroying it instantly. I then did the same thing to the manta on the right. I wrapped my legs around the manta I was sitting on to stay on it so that I could safely do this. But even then, the Tarantulas below did not give a fuck and still began to fire at me.

Putting my legs on top of the manta instead of around it, I curled my body up in as much as possible before the manta flipped to knock me off. All I did was smile. Because the tarantulas were still firing when it did that, and the lasers hit its target area to destroy it before I landed on the ground. I then drew my swords and held them at my side with a dark look over my face. They screeched as I ran towards them in a blur before they even finished.

They started to fire furiously at me, but I sidestepped them without even thinking about it. All that was on my mind was action. Act or they were all dead. The reminder only seemed to feed me. I then lashed out my lightning, but instead of being blue this time, it was purple. And I held it as I continued to shock the three creatures in front of me. Something was... satisfying about how they spasmed from the electricity. I then walked up to the tarantula on the right before stabbing it in the head while it couldn't do anything about it.

But before I could move on the second tarantula, it seemed that this was lightning was powerful enough to damage it because it wasn't long before it exploded. I then released my lightning. I didn't need to tire myself anymore for this thing.

Before I could attempt to impale it, the Scyphozoa turned tail. I rolled my eyes. This thing was like that one bully in high school that couldn't do anything unless he had his boys backing him up.

 _"Pathetic, XANA. Pathetic,"_ I thought as I went inside of the tower. I broke into a run when I went towards the center. I sighed a calming breath before I could feel myself being floated to the top. Almost as if I landed on a pillow, my landing on the next platform was soft before I walked to the center.

The monitor immediately popped up to my arrival and I put my hand on it. I inserted the Code Lyoko code into the monitor and then the white quickly engulfed my vision. I'm glad Jeremy set up the Return to the Past to be like that after every manual tower deactivation. Saved me the time and slight discomfort of having to stab myself to send me back.

I looked at the others when we were back before we went to go to lunch and they looked around in a shocked way once they stopped shivering before looking around rapidly. Man, it must've been cold.

"What the... how did you..."

"You're not the only one who can deactivate towers, remember?" I said with a nervous smile. But the smile didn't match the lightheartedness I was trying to bring to the table. My blood and heart was pumping and pounding like crazy. But something in me panicked. So I ran off. I had to go. I had to get out. I heard shouts behind me, but I kept running.

At one point, I stopped somewhere in the forest before I put my hands over my head while sinking down a tree trunk. I shook my head as I sat on the ground.

 _"He's getting more powerful. He's getting more and more powerful and it's because of me,"_ I thought, continuing to shake my head. I wanted something, anything to help with the idea that this couldn't have been helped, but every time, I came back to the fact that me being here was causing it all. And look at the result. Dare I say that if somehow, by some stroke of luck that I couldn't deactivate towers, they all would've very well died.

The thought itself made my stomach feel like a boulder just landed in my stomach. No one else could tell me that this wasn't my fault. Because it fully was. Me being here made XANA more powerful. That was a fact. I just wish it wasn't. I knew that it was a possibility that me being here made XANA more powerful, but the situation was never that serious. Imagine if I couldn't deactivate towers. Then some of my nightmares would've actually come true.

 _"It's your fault. You know it's your fault,"_ my mind continued to prod me, making me tighten my fists with the internal pain the thought caused me.

I felt my phone vibrate, but I didn't look at the message. I know it would just be an inquiry as to what was wrong with me. But I didn't feel that was necessary over a phone. So, with feet that felt like they were filled with lead rather than bone, I stood to my feet and started heading back towards the school. Somehow, my feet led me back towards the right direction.

By the sound that was coming from the cafeteria, lunch had not ended yet. I didn't want to face anyone as of now, lunch be damned. So I decided to go the the class and wait inside. At the very least, we wouldn't have to have this conversation until after class. At the least, I could prepare my mind somewhat better for the conversation that was to come. The teacher did look surprised that I walked in early while everyone was at lunch, but when I looked up at him, it seemed any questions he was about to ask immediately died on his lips. I must've looked awful.

Throughout the whole class, I didn't look up from my desk. I just looked down, not wanting to look the others in the eye. I knew they would think I was being irrational and the way I was acting was stupid because I thought this was my fault, but it was true in this case.

"Excuse me, sir? I'm supposed to take Robert to an appointment with the nurse. She trusted me to make sure he goes," Aelita suddenly said with her hand raised. This caused me to raise my head up and look at her with wide eyes. The thing is that her face was completely serious. It didn't betray a thing. Which was saying something because Aelita was not normally a good liar.

"Oh, yes. Of course. Go ahead and take him," the teacher said. I was somewhat stunned as I stood to my feet, but I let her lead me out of the classroom. I was then led outside before she stopped me.

"Ok, the others might be able to wait after class for an interrogation, but not me. Why did you run off like that? You had me think something was wrong," Aelita said.

"Something is wrong," I said, turning away from her and pacing.

"Well, what is it? And why did you-"

"XANA is becoming more and more powerful. And it's all because of me," I said, not stopping in my pacing. Then I felt her hands touch my shoulders before turning around, but I resisted.

"Can you not be irrational right now?" Aelita asked.

"I'm not. It's true. XANA is not normally that powerful. There were not supposed to be that many hornets on Lyoko. The temperature was not supposed to drop as fast as it did. And there-" I was cut off by a slap. I looked at Aelita with a shocked look, who was giving me a stern one. "Did you just slap me?"

"Yes, I did. Because you're being irrational," Aelita said.

"How am I-"

"Tell me something. Did you ask to be here?" Aelita asked. It didn't take me long to see where she was going with that.

"I see your point. I can't help but brood over it," I said before looking up in the sky with a type of faraway look. "This isn't the first time I've thought about it though. It just hasn't gotten to me quite as much as now."

"We could've put this to rest sooner if you had just told us," Aelita said.

"What was I supposed to say? That me being here was just making XANA stronger? Like, how do you even explain that without feeling disgusted with yourself?" I questioned.

"Let's start with the fact that it's not your fault. There's always that," Aelita said idly.

"But it is. You're not understanding that. Me being here made XANA more powerful. That is a fact," I said, slapping my right hand in my left to emphasize my point. "And you all nearly died because of it. If I couldn't deactivate towers, you would've. He would've won. You're not understanding that!"

Aelita took a step back from my sudden shout, but immediately took a step forward. Then she put hands on my shoulders before giving me a serious look.

"Well, let me put this in a different way. Even though you're making XANA more powerful by being here, I can speak for the others when I say that we would still want you here," Aelita told me softly. I sighed while looking at the ground. "What is it?"

"It's not about whether you would accept me or not. It's the horrifying thought that my actual worst nightmare may actually come to pass. That I just may lose all of you," I said, deciding to lie down on the ground while looking at the sky. But then she crouched over me while giving me a softer look.

"How long you been going through those?" Aelita asked.

"They don't happen daily, but I get one whenever we have a close call or two. The cold sweats and my heart rate can attest to how much it affects me at night," I said, looking up at the sky. "I fear for the idea that whatever XANA brings to the table may be enough to get us and that we'll all die."

"If it's been bothering you so much, why haven't you told us? When I had my nightmares, I knew it always felt good to have someone to talk to. Why-"

"I don't know. I've always been the type to keep things to myself. I don't open up as often as people would think. There are still some of my old habits that I still have," I said, breathing out of my nose heavily.

"We'll talk to the others about this. But know this. We want you here. Whether or not you make XANA more powerful. And what you do to help us is far better than what XANA can throw our way. _You_ saved us today. _You_ did that. _You._ So guess what? There's no need to beat yourself up over it," Aelita said, putting an arm around my shoulders. Though she had to stand on the tips of her toes to do that. Then she stopped with a sheepish grin. This made a grin cross my face.

"Shorty," I said with a teasing grin.

"I can't help it that you're trying to become the human Eiffel Tower," Aelita said, hitting my arm playfully.

"It's a quest that requires dedication," I said in a tone so serious that anyone would've thought I was serious if the situation didn't scream that it was a joke. I was getting good at that. "On a serious note, that makes me feel better. It eases my thoughts some."

"I'm glad for that. Because after all this, after all the things you've been through along with us, you don't deserve that guilt. Remember that. You are a good person," Aelita told me. I grinned before pulling her into a hug.

"Thank you. I mean that. I think I needed this talk," I said, releasing her.

"You definitely did. I couldn't handle thinking about that on a daily basis. How do you do it?" Aelita asked.

"After a while, you learn to block the bad stuff out and just keep going. But it's still... there. In the back of your mind. Nagging you. Haunting you," I said as I looked up in the air. But then she put a hand on my shoulder.

"It'll be fine in the end. Trust me," Aelita said, making me smile and nod.

"Ok, I trust you," I said.

"I'm glad," Aelita said before grabbing my hand and leading me inside. I definitely felt a lot better about myself. I didn't feel like this was all my fault anymore. The very thought made me smile.

* * *

I had been shot, electrocuted, had bones broken, nearly crushed by a grandfather clock as a child, and all sorts of stuff thanks to XANA. But I still flinched when I got smacked on the sides of my face by Yumi. The same cheek Aelita slapped earlier.

"You're an idiot, you know that?" Yumi told me angrily. I had to rub the back of my head. This was one of those moments where I felt like the little child in this situation.

"Cut him a break. He's been having nightmares about us losing for the past few weeks. It's not an easy thing to deal with. I know it wouldn't be for me," Aelita said, making Yumi's look soften.

"Oh," she said before looking at me with a gentler look. "I'm sorry."

"It's fine. I've survived worse," I said as I put my arms on my knees while I was sitting down on the ground. But unlike most times that I took this position, I kept my head held up.

"You should've told us you were having nightmares," Ulrich said.

"I've always been a seclusive person. There are some things I just don't feel it's necessary to share. I expected them to go away, but it's more like they just pop up when they want to," I told him.

"We care enough to hear about your problems too, you know," Aelita said.

"It's not about the fact that we would care to hear it. It's just not a thing he's accustomed to," Jeremy said, making me point at him.

"He hit the nail on the head," I said.

"Still, we feel like if something is bothering you, you should tell us," Aelita said.

"It only bothers for a few moments. Then by then I just learn to put it at the back of my mind, and move on," I said.

"That's not a good thing to do," Jeremy told me.

"What are you going to do? I have a habit of not making the wisest decisions," I said with a small shrug.

"Don't do that. And this is coming from me out of all people," Odd said.

"No guarantees," I said. A collective sigh came from everyone. Looks like they expected that answer, but still didn't like it. "Hey, I'm just isolated like that. There was never anyone I wanted to talk to about my problems. I just dealt with it myself."

"Well, don't. We want to help you," Yumi said.

"Again, no guarantees. But I'll at least try," I told her. Yumi closed her eyes for a brief moment before opening them and nodding. Then I felt a hand on my shoulder.

"How are you feeling now?" Aelita asked me.

"Alright. I mean, at the very least, I'm feeling more comfortable with myself," I said.

"See what happens when you talk to people?" Aelita said with a smile. I looked down and shook my head, but a small smile came to my face nonetheless.

"Yeah, I guess," I said, before looking up. "Thank you. All of you."

"That's what friends do for each other. Remember that," Ulrich said, holding out a fist. I didn't hesitate and bumped fists with him before doing the same with Odd and Jeremy. Then I put the girls into hugs.

"You know, I thought I had gotten used to everything being here had to offer me," I said as I released them and backed up to look at them all better. "I was surprisingly, but not unpleasantly proven wrong."

"Hey, we all knew Einstein lives for a chance to prove you wrong for once," Odd said with a smirk, making the boy in question glare at Odd. I couldn't hold back a smirk.

"We both know you have a bottomless stomach, but at least I don't have a mouth that moves at the rate of a car," I said dryly, making the others snicker. But Odd grinned as well.

"You're back," he said. I grinned before standing to my feet.

"Yes. Yes, I am," I said, feeling a nice sensation of calm.


	21. Chapter 21 - Hero Complex

Episode References: Deja Vu

* * *

"It was in the daytime, and there were these men in black coming after me," Aelita said before looking to me. "Does that tie in with what you said about my dad being involved in some project with a military organization?"

"I believe it does, yes. I'm lost as to why they came after him, but all I know is that they did. I have no idea what happened to your mother though. I'm not sure if it was ever revealed," I said, uncrossing my legs and sitting forward with a thoughtful look on my face.

"Enough of the unpleasant stuff. It's time to get wet," Ulrich said. It took everything in me for my face to stay even. "Are you gonna cut swimming again Einstein? Huh?"

"No, I can't. Jim has already warned me. 'No more excuses, ya hear?!'" Jeremy exclaimed in a gruff voice imitating Jim as he was getting up. I bit my lip gently as I looked at the ground.

"Great! We'll finally get to see that buff athletic body of yours," Odd said, making me shake my head even through my thoughts. "I can't wait!"

"You might be surprised," Jeremy said. I sighed as I looked at the ground. Nothing like making a fool of yourself in front of everyone because you can't swim. It's just something I never learned, but it still gnaws at me from time to time.

"You look worried," Aelita said, putting a hand on my shoulder and causing me to look up at her. "If it's about me, I'm fine. I assure you of that."

"It's not all about you," I told her with a grin that was about as superficial as plastic.

"Uh-huh. Come on. It'll be ok," Aelita said, tugging at my arm. I then pulled it back to stop her.

"It's not that. I, er... can't swim," I told her.

"You can't? Why not?" Aelita asked.

"It's something I never learned. I mean, I know it would be important to know, but I just never learned it," I told her, looking down again.

"Well, just tell Jim that and I'm sure he'll understand," Aelita said.

"I know that. It just... gnaws at me from time to time. I remember that time that runaway ambulance was heading towards the lake. Because I couldn't swim, that caused me to get a bunch of bones in my body broken. But after the Return to the Past, it was compensate for with that fever I had for a few days. It sort of brings me back to the situation I have now," I told her.

"Well, you're a quick learner. Soon you'll be speeding past Jim with how fast you could go," Aelita said, making me grin and shake my head as I looked at the ground.

"I doubt that, but your optimism with me is quite pleasant," I said, pulling my bag over my shoulder. "Alright, let's go."

* * *

"The human body is made up of ninety percent water. And that is why it floats. Because, contrary to what you might think, water floats," Jim said, making me have to hold back a snicker at the way he ended that sentence.

"Don't forget Archimedes' Principle. Any body plunged into a liquid and eh... um..."

"Archimedes' principle indicates that the upward buoyant force that is exerted on a body immersed in a fluid, whether fully or partially submerged, is equal to the weight of the fluid that the body displaces and it acts in the upward direction at the center of mass of the displaced fluid," I said tonelessly. "Or in simple terms, water never exerts more weight on your body than what is in it while focusing all in the center. Thus the human body has the ability to swim."

"Er... yes," Jim said, seemingly at a lost for words at my explanation before recovering. "Now, no one has to be scared of the water...( _"Speak for yourself,"_ I thought. _"You can swim."_ ) "Unless, of course, you're lost at sea somewhere in the middle of the Indian Ocean. In that case, you would certainly have the right to say, 'Wow, that's a lot of water.'"

"Tanya, um..." I could hear Odd tick off next to me. I decided to let him get on with his secret admirer thing and turn back to Jim to pretend like I was actually paying attention.

"Stern! Della-Robbia!" Jim suddenly exclaimed at the two as they were talking. "I hope I'm not boring you! Get up on deck! Let's see what you can do!" I heard Aelita give off a pained grunt as she held her head. My attention was immediately peaked as I turned to her.

"Headache?" I asked her.

"Little bit. I'm fine though," she said with a smile. I narrowed my eyes a little for a closer look, and it didn't seem that the pain was bothering her anymore.

"Good," I said with a satisfied nod. I then turned back to see that Odd and Ulrich had reared up to start swimming. I was somewhat interested to see who would win the race, but then I heard Aelita give off another grunt of pain before clutching her head in pain again.

"Aelita. Are you alright?" I asked. The thing that worried me was that she didn't seem to hear me. After a few moments, she rose to her feet while clutching her head and fell in the pool. Instinctively, I used one of my hands to grab her to prevent her from falling. Unfortunately, water had splashed on this side of the pool when Odd and Ulrich dived in, so I ended up slipping on that before falling in with her.

Water immediately started to fill my open mouth, but I immediately closed it before looking around. The water didn't seem to bother my eyes at all. My focus was looking around for Aelita, who was slowly sinking. I wanted to will my body to go down. I tried upside down and moving my arms like I saw in shows and the like, but I didn't seem to move.

 _"Come on, damn you!"_ I furiously thought to myself as I wanted to go lower. I then moved my limbs frantically like I was trapped in a box or something in a hope to move myself lower, but I couldn't do it. I blinked hard, and it felt like a weight was slowly easing its way onto my chest. My limbs began to shake underwater and I turned my body in hopes of it finally working, but I didn't move from the spot I was floating on.

Then the weight pressed harder on my chest until it felt like my chest was about to be crushed. The urge to open my mouth was intense, but I kept it closed. I then began to feel lightheaded. At least I did before I felt myself being pulled out. I then coughed out the water I had in my mouth when I first entered the pool. I put a hand on my knee before rising to my feet. I looked at Ulrich who had pulled my out and nodded before turning to look at a pool with a look that just kept on staring.

 _"To that could've been the end of us both. If only I could fucking swim,"_ I furiously thought. I pressed the palms of my hands hard against my forehead as I stood up and looked at Aelita, who was still unconscious. I sighed before moving to pick her up.

"You were under there for a bit. You might have a couple of spasms and drop her. It's best to let someone else do it," Jim told me. I nodded and just backed off as he picked her up. I sighed before walking out. It was stupid, but I had never felt so useless for what just happened.

 _"All cause I can't swim,"_ I thought as I moved to dry myself off and change.

* * *

"This time it was much more detailed. There were still the men in black, but I was at the Hermitage," Aelita said. I was quiet the entire time. I had one foot hanging off the bed, one on it while looking at the wall across from me.

"Robert," Yumi suddenly said, and I wheeled around to face her.

"Yeah?" I asked.

"You ok?" Yumi asked, looking at me with her head kind of tilted in her examination.

"I'm fine. Physically, at least," I said, putting a hand under my chin as I put myself back into my thoughts that insisted on punishing me.

"What happened?" Ulrich asked.

"What does it look like? I can't swim," I said with a bite in my voice.

"Is that why you wanted to avoid the water when we were in that ambulance?" Jeremy asked, making me nod. "I thought you could at least stay afloat. I mean..."

"Never assume. Make assumptions, get fucked," I said as I stood up and stretched out my back. "Never in my life have I felt so useless. To watch someone you care about to die while you can't do anything about it is... it just gnaws at you. It gets under your skin in ways you can't imagine."

"It's ok. Thanks to Jeremy and Ulrich. They got you both out," Odd said.

"What you're not understanding is that what if they weren't present? What would've happened? We would've died, that's what," I said, smacking my hand to emphasize my point. "And that's the hardest thing to think about. It takes a while to get used to the idea of death. An idea that I haven't gotten used to yet."

"Then we'll teach you. We will help you," Jeremy said. I blew out a heavy sigh before just looking around the room at everyone.

"Do it now," I told them.

"What?" Jeremy asked. I stood to my feet with a dead serious look on my face.

"I'm getting those lessons now. I don't care if we have to sneak in. I want to learn _now,"_ I said.

"You nearly drowned. Do you really-"

"Do you really want to face a scenario like this happening again? Because I definitely don't!" I exclaimed before I toned my voice and put my hands together. "Please. This is something that needs to be done now. It doesn't just have to. It _needs_ to."

When I took that tone of voice, they nodded without hesitation. It seems that they got the idea of how badly I wanted this; how important this was.

"So who's gonna skip from Mrs. Hertz class?" Odd questioned as he grabbed Jeremy's laptop.

"I will. I can afford to do so. You all? Not as much," Jeremy said. I nodded in agreement.

"Alright, let's go. Mrs. Hertz is going to kill us," Ulrich said, rising to his feet.

"Wait a minute! I'm just about to find out who she is!" Odd said, typing on the keyboard. I just gestured Jeremy to follow me to the pool. Luckily Jim wasn't teaching a class at this time. But the door to the gym was locked.

"Great. How are we supposed to get in?" Jeremy asked.

"Leave that to me," I said, pulling out a hairpin out of my pocket. "I asked Em of one of these. She didn't ask why, but I did get a rather weird look from her."

"So you're going to pick the lock with that? Good luck with-" He was cut off by the sound of a click before I opened the door. I then looked at him with a grin.

"You were saying?" I asked.

"Nothing," Jeremy said. I shook my head before walking inside. I then closed to door before looking at the pool.

"In all of my days, I never would have imagined this scenario," I said as I unclothed to get down to the swim trunks that I never did take off.

"What? Me teaching you swimming?" Jeremy asked.

"More like you teaching me anything athletic in general," I said with a grin.

"Hardy, har-har," Jeremy said dryly. "Ready?" I looked at the water nervously.

"Uh..."

"Don't worry. You'll be fine," Jeremy assured. "First things first. You can't be afraid of the water. If you are, you're just gonna make your fears of what's to come a reality." I took a deep sigh, and tried to calm myself. At the very least, my heart beat slowed and the trembling that I just noticed was happening came to a stop.

"Next you have to get used to the idea of floating(Yes, I am using these rules from a website). Hang on to the side of the pool and stretch your legs out. Once your body gets used to the idea of floating, it makes it all the easier," Jeremy told me. I nodded before slowly lowering myself into the water while my hands had a firm grip on the side. So I just let part of my body float.

 _"Let go,"_ a heard a soft voice in my head say. My heart sort of sped up at the voice, making get increasingly more nervous, but the voice sounded... kind. Like a father figure. So against all logical judgement in my head, I let go with my eyes closed.

But I could feel cool water caress my stomach. I gently turned onto my back before opening my eyes. With a wide realization, I saw that I was floating on the water. Weirdly enough, it was something I wasn't even thinking about. It was just... happening.

"To be honest, I thought we would be on this step for longer than this," Jeremy said, looking at me.

"So did I," I said, feeling calm by the floating feeling. Guess Aelita was right. I was a fast learner. Or at least, something helped me learn fast. I don't know.

"Alright, we can move a few steps ahead. Practice kicking your feet. Don't do them erratically. Remember, don't fear the water. Just do balanced kicks. Up and down. Up and down. Up and down. Keep them level; balanced. The balance is the important part. If you keep that balanced, it doesn't matter how slow or fast you go. You will move and you won't drown," Jeremy told me.

"That's definitely an important part," I said. I kept floating on my back before moving my feet at a steady pace. Just like he said. Up and down. Up and down. Up and down. Keep it level. Keep the balance.

"That's perfect," Jeremy told me. I sighed as I moved back from the pool. Once you get past your hysterical fear of drowning, staying in the water like this is actually... quite calming.

"Now for crawling, so to speak. Now, submerge your feet," Jeremy said. This party made me my eyebrows shoot into my hair. Staying afloat I could handle, but putting my feet under? What if I went to far?

"Oh, right. Maybe I should tell you how to rise and fall," he reminded himself. "Now, keep your arms out like this. Move your left one clockwise, and the other counterclockwise. At that point, it's just the matter of turning yourself so that you go in the right direction. But first, try those crawls I asked for." I took a deep breath before lowering my feet. My heart sped up significantly faster, but the water only stayed just under my shoulders. I then moved myself to start moving my hands back and forth like I saw pro swimmers do.

"Back and forth. Back and forth," I rapidly thought to myself. I decided to be slightly adventurous and speed up how fast I decided to crawl. "Back and forth." Before I knew it, I was at the end of the pool.

"Great! You got ahold of the basics really fast!" Jeremy said with a wide smile on his face. Regardless of my new found talent, I still decided to put my arms on the edge of the pool as I looked at him with a shy grin.

"Thanks. I suppose I did ok," I said.

"It usually takes a few hours or so for the average person to feel comfortable floating. So you did better than ok. So, um... yeah. That went by kind of quick. All you have to do is practice a little more," Jeremy said.

"I'll make sure to do that. Though I would prefer if I had someone who knew what they were doing on standby," I said.

"Of course. Now come on. It's time to get chewed out by Mrs. Hertz," Jeremy said. I sighed.

"Oh, joy," I said dryly as I picked the lock to the locker room so that I could get a towel to dry off. I then quickly put my clothes on, my mind consciously holding on to the rules of swimming. But I did take the time to move to Jeremy and give him a hug.

"Whoa! Caught me off guard there," he said in surprised tone before awkwardly moving his hands to my back to return the embrace. "You're welcome."

"I appreciate this. I do. I don't see myself saving lives in the water like you did just yet, but..."

"You will. Cause guess what? It's kind of what you do around here," Jeremy said with a grin. I put a hand around his shoulder and led him out while I was grinning the entire time.

"I suppose that's true, isn't it?" I questioned.

"Of course it is," Jeremy said as we walked back to Mrs. Hertz classroom. But then I stopped.

"Think we should check on Aelita?" I asked.

"She should be resting. It might not be a good idea to disturb her," Jeremy said.

"I know. But something about me feels... uneasy," I said.

"Alright, we'll check on her," Jeremy said. Then we both moved to Aelita's room. Only to be met with an empty bed.

"I knew there was a reason I felt uneasy," I said as I moved to try and call Aelita's cell. "Shit. Go to Odd. He has your computer. Check to see if a tower is activated, which I don't doubt is activated." He nodded and ran off, the line of the phone clicking in confirmation of a connected call sounding off in my ear shortly after.

"Aelita! Where are you?" I asked.

 _"The Hermitage. I know you told me what it all means, but there's something about those visions that... draws me here,"_ Aelita said.

"It's never a good idea to go alone though," I told her. "I'll put that to the side. XANA's on the prowl right now. If necessary, I will come get you. There's a passageway to the factory somewhere in the Hermitage. Take that to the factory."

 _"There is?"_ Aelita asked.

"Yes. Behind some steel door somewhere. You know what? Just stay on the line. I'll then know whether or not I have to go get you," I told her.

 _"Ok. You said behind a steel door somewhere?"_ Aelita asked.

"Yes. I don't know exactly where. You'll just have to find it. If memory serves, it's somewhere outside," I told her.

 _"Found it,"_ Aelita said after a few seconds. My eyes widened in slight surprise.

"That was fast," I said in a subdued tone.

 _"Thankfully. I should be there in a minute,"_ Aelita said.

"Good," I said, speeding up my own feet so that I could get to the factory quickly. I was the first one there with Aelita being the second.

"Where are the others?" Aelita asked.

"I can assume Mrs. Hertz is keeping them there. XANA hasn't attacked yet, so that's a good thing," I said, sitting down at the computer and typing away. "Yeah, there's a tower active. But there's nothing going on. What are you up to XANA?" I had a hand on one of my cheeks with another resting on the arm of the chair.

"Even I can't say. XANA knows how to keep plans under wraps until he decides to spring it," Aelita said.

"You're right. The visions maybe?" I questioned as I looked further down.

"What are you thinking?" Aelita asked.

"Think about it. XANA has the ability to mess with your brain cause of the link you have with him due to the piece of memory he has. He may be using these memories to draw you here," I said in a deductive voice.

"Are you sure?" Aelita asked.

"Not entirely sure. It's just a theory," I said.

"Then we'll deal with the tower and just get out," Aelita said, making me nod. Soon after that was said, the others came in through the elevator.

"Good, you're already here. Did you run into any problems on the way?" Jeremy asked.

"No, it was clear. You?" I asked.

"Same. I don't like it," Jeremy said.

"Neither do I, but we can't really focus on that. We need to head for the scanners," Ulrich said.

"He's right. There isn't really a rush since XANA's focus seems to only be on Aelita's visions. We'll just deal with the tower and move on with the day," I said. There was a collective nod from everyone as Jeremy sat down at the computer and we headed to the bottom. I stretched my arm out as I landed on Lyoko, Aelita and Ulrich to the sides of me. Aelita grabbed my outstretched hand and I lifted her onto my back as per usual. It didn't take long before the others joined me and they were already on their vehicles.

"Tower's just across from us," I said, squinting my eyes. "With two tarantulas and four blocks guarding it."

"This'll be easy then. To think we could barely handle one of those tarantulas at first," Odd said, gaining some altitude.

"Yeah, no kidding. But hey. We've gotten better, so we'll make it quick for them," I said before leaping into the air and subduing the tarantulas with lightning. Odd then quickly moved on the scene, and, with spot on accuracy, sprayed them with arrows that eliminated them. "Too easy."

"Couldn't agree more!" Ulrich exclaimed as he ran past a block with his sword at his side, eliminating it in the process. As Yumi threw her fan at another one of the block, Aelita held out a hand towards the last block before tightening her fist. Instantly, a wall rock closed around it and crushed it instantly.

"Didn't even take us thirty seconds," I said with a smirk.

 _"That's a a record, I think,"_ Jeremy said as I stopped in front of the tower.

"I think so too," I said before letting Aelita down. "All yours gurl." She giggled at my use of the wording before walking in the tower. I smirked as I cracked my knuckles with not a care in the world.

"So, uh... was Jeremy successful in helping you learn how to swim?" Odd asked.

"Yes. Yes, I would say he was. I have the basics at the very least," I said.

"Well, good. Because you don't deserve to feel guilty about what happened," Yumi said, putting a hand on my shoulder.

"I know. It's not something I enjoy feeling, but at the same time, I can't but feel that if I was better, it never would've happened," I said.

"You're not Superman. You can't be expected to do everything," Odd said.

"Yet he can't help but feel the need to try. And we he can't, this happens," Ulrich said, gesturing towards me.

"You know me so well, man. But yeah. Hopefully I won't have to beat myself over it every again," I said.

 _"I think it comes with that hero complex of yours,"_ Jeremy suddenly said. _"It's not a bad thing by all means, but in does lead to cases like this. When there are some things that are out of your power and you can't do anything. And then you feel guilty because you couldn't do anything. It's not very logical, but I know that's the thing about emotions."_

"Genius, as ever. But yeah. I'll definitely try my best not to feel guilty over stupid shit," I said as Aelita walked out of the tower.

"Good," Ulrich said with a nod.

"Jeremy, we're ready to go," Aelita said.

 _"Alright, I'm sending you back,"_ Jeremy said. I sighed and did my best to hold onto their words. There were just some things I couldn't do. And I had to learn to accept that.

* * *

"Visions?" I asked as Aelita sat at the table.

"Gone," she said with a smile as she sat down. "You were right. It seems like the whole thing was caused by XANA so I'd want to go to Sector 5 for answers. It's not the first time he's tried luring us into a trap." Then Emily suddenly came over to sit with us, and she immediately closed her mouth.

"What are you all talking about?" she asked.

"We've been hearing about Odd yammer on about his mystery girl for the past few hours. Help," I said, giving her a pleading look. She chuckled moving closer to give me a kiss, which I gladly returned. Odd gave off an impatient grunting noise before the displeased look on his face changed into a smile.

"I think I've got it bad this time, guys. I'm gonna meet her," Odd said, closing the laptop and holding it under his arm.

"When?" Ulrich asked.

"Now. At the vending machines," Odd said. I flashed him the thumbs up.

"Go get em tiger," I said. He smiled before walking off. I then took a bite of food before wrapping an arm around Emily. The others held a small conversation while I just sort of sat and ate in silence. I looked up briefly from my food, but during that brief period, I noticed Odd behind a tree.

"One second babe," I said, standing up.

"Where are you going?" Emily asked.

"I need to talk to someone," I said, my eyes on Odd as I walked out of the door. I then walked up to him with a questioning look on my face. "What are you doing back here?"

"Keep your voice down. Look who's behind the vending machine," Odd said through gritted teeth before pointing. I turned my head to see that Sissi was waiting there. My eyes widened a small amount.

"From what you said about this girl, you said she was cool? And that you took the time to spend the entire night exchanging emails with her?" I asked.

"Yeah, but I didn't know it was Sissi!" Odd said, looking somewhat ashamed. I only laughed.

"And that's supposed to be an excuse? How about you talk to her on even ground instead of insulting each other like you do every two seconds? Meet her as a person just like you did on the emails. You just may be surprised at how one person acts when you get inside their head more," I said, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"And if she shoots me down while insulting me as soon as I tell her?" Odd said.

"Don't give up on the rip. Be more insistent. Sissi _is_ a girl, regardless of your belief of how she's an alien or some shit like that. And her, being a girl, will appreciate the effort. There are a few things you pick up about women after living with a house full of em your entire life," I told him. Odd sighed.

"If I get chewed out and laughed at, I'll blame you," he said before walking behind the tree and towards Sissi. I simply grinned before walking back to the cafeteria and sitting back down.

"So who'd you go talk to?" Emily asked.

"Oh, I just gave Odd a few words of encouragement," I said, taking a drink out of my cup.

"Did it help?" Jeremy asked. I subtly moved my eyes up from my cup to look outside to see that he and Sissi were in fact talking. I had to hide the smirk by gently biting my tongue before speaking.

"Yes. Yes, I believe it did," I said, lowering the cup.

* * *

A/N: Am I going somewhere with that? Eh, probably. Not too sure yet. I'll tell you what though. It's kind of not fair to the either of them to not give the other a chance. I mean, you'd be surprised how much you have in common with a person when you're not constantly bitching at them. Trust me, about most of my friends are assholes. Why? Cause we have so much in common. It's just how it works. Relationships can work the same way. That bitching can be converted into affection. Says the guy who is actually still single to this day, but hey. I'm going on what I think is logical.


	22. Chapter 22 - In Shape

A/N: Ages since I uploaded a new chapter for this. Didn't have internet for a couple months, so blame that. Some things can't be helped. But I'm back.

Episode References: Tip Top Shape

* * *

"Push-ups. On the wall. You can't be serious," I said flatly as I looked at Odd. For some reason, he was under the impression that pushing himself off the wall multiple times would help with muscle mass.

"I'm sick of Yolanda telling me I'm scrawny," he said.

"Then change it. By doing real push-ups. Like this," I said, falling forward and using one hand push myself up and down. The movement was effortless; barely a thought. Had this happened before I came into Lyoko, I would've fallen on my face.

"If you take your shirt off and do that, I can charge admission," Ulrich said with a smirk.

"You do that, I'll kill you dead," Emily said in a pleasant tone. Sadism behind a pleasant tone. Ah, the beautiful results of my handiwork. Only, the end result would be anything but beautiful.

"Ulrich, how about _you_ do it and I'll charge admission," I said, instantly getting to my feet and dusting my hands off. I didn't have a death wish. "We'll split the profits. Who knows? Maybe one of these lovely girls'll make you honest."

"Well, here's hoping," Ulrich said, raising a hand like he was raising a glass. "But still. If you value all of your limbs, you better listen to her."

"All right, all right. I won't do push-ups and charge admission to the female public," I said idly, raising my hands in surrender.

"Please don't. I'm not in the mood to be saying 'paws off,'" Emily said. I then grabbed her and kissed her full on the lips with a little force behind it. Of course, that was what really made it heat up.

"I think that sufficiently says that I'm taken," I said dryly as I leaned against the wall.

"You know, for someone who hasn't really been in a relationship, you sure can kiss alright," Emily said. I only shrugged.

"It's not like we haven't had plenty of practice," I said, a smirk making its way onto my face.

"I didn't think you would be in here," Sissi said, looking at me. I tilted my head at her.

"That's a compliment to say I'm in shape. I'm shocked," I said flatly. The others also looked at Sissi with raised eyebrows. She was either blind or ignoring them.

"I just say that you would avoid sucking her face," Sissi said with minor distaste. I rolled my eyes. Then I kind of remembered the same exasperation I had when I see people kissing before all of this went down. I had to restrain a smirk. She was just lonely and I'm reminding her of that fact. Well, I'm not a cruel person.

 _"Oh, who am I kidding? I love being cruel,"_ I thought with a mental smirk.

"How about I give you a heads up when I'm about to kiss my girlfriend? I'm so sorry if our feelings give you inconvenience," I said sarcastically with a small mock bow. Sissi rolled her eyes before glancing at Odd, who was still pushing himself off the wall.

"What are you doing scrawny?" she asked him.

"Svelte!" Odd exclaimed. But Sissi only smirked before taking a seat on the floor. At the very least, she didn't follow up on an insult. Better than hearing them argue likes cats and dogs. Nowhere near as funny as Odd's idle insulting. Then I felt a tap on my shoulder.

"We kind of need to discuss something important," Jeremy told me. I nodded and stood up to follow him over to the side. "Aelita doesn't have a health record."

"Yes she does," I said without a worry.

"Wait, what?" Jeremy asked.

"I took care of that little detail myself," I said with a proud smile. "Believe me, took a couple of hours to get it all situated, but I managed to get her record looking to a believable standard."

"Impressive," Jeremy said.

"Why thank you. Now..." I felt a presence hug me from behind and I smiled. "Yes Aelita. I know I'm the best. You can let go." Arms retracted and I turned to face the bright pink-haired girl with a smile.

"There are perks in having a friend who's from another dimension," she said, grinning about as wide as me.

"The perks are going to keep on going until this is over. Until XANA is over," I said with my hands in my pockets as the nurse walked out of her door.

"Alright. Jeremy Belpois. Odd Della-Robbia. Robert Morgan," she said, making me immediately turn around.

"That's my name," I said, walking into the office with Odd and Jeremy close behind.

"Go on Rambo. Blow em away," Ulrich said to Odd, making me grin as I walked into the office.

Jeremy opted on just standing still while I leaned on the wall. I did that a lot when I was waiting for something.

"You've got the heart of an athlete Odd. But you look a little skinny to me," the nurse told him. "Are you sure you're eating enough?"

"By enough, do you mean more than an elephant?" Jeremy questioned rhetorically, making me snicker. "And I'm standing next to the guy who eats more than a pig." I nudged him playfully, his only response being to chuckle.

"I eat a lot," Odd told the nurse.

"Ah. Well, in that case, it must be your metabolism that keeps you so scrawny," the nurse said, making me grin. I had Odd's metabolism, but I could still get some muscle on me. I was very happy with the way I had bulked up. Thicker arms, more firm chest, etc, etc. Apparently, the pride showed on my face.

"What are you smirking about?" Jeremy asked.

"Nothing," I said. But the smirk didn't go away.

"Uh huh. Yeah," Jeremy said in a doubtful tone. "I think someone likes the fact that they've advanced beyond Odd's build."

"Ok, a little bit," I said, pinching my hands until they were about half an inch apart. "I'm still a little on the thin side, but I can lift things I couldn't before. I can turn heads when I go shirtless around girls my age. The second part I don't quite care about as much as the first cause I have Emily, but it helps with the self esteem."

"Mr. Morgan," the nurse said as Odd walked out with a somewhat displeased frown on his face. I then gave Jeremy a thumbs up before sitting down where Odd was at previously while taking my shirt off.

"Well, you've certainly bulked up since you came here," Yolanda said, making me grin.

"Watch it now darling. I'm already taken. Maybe if we don't work out, I'll give you a call," I said with a wink in her direction. Yolanda laughed in an airy fashion before she put her stethoscope on my chest.

"Well, I can see why Ms. Leduc finds your a keeper. You're a real charmer," she said, listening closely.

"Why thank you. I know I am. But I have a good time with Emily, and that's all that matters to me. I was serious about what I said if we don't work out," I said with a grin still on my face.

"Maybe when you're older," Yolanda said, patting me on my shoulder.

"Alright, I'm done with the tasteless joke that's somewhat truthful. What am I looking like doc?" I asked.

"Sixteen percent body fat. That's impressive for your age. You have some secret I don't know about?" Yolanda asked.

"You know I was Odd's size when I came here, so there was hardly any fat. Only room for some meat to actually go on these previously thin bones," I said.

"You're quite proud of your size, aren't you?" Yolanda said, taking the stethoscope off.

"Give me a six pack, and I'll be a happy guy," I said with a grin.

"Do more sit-ups then," Yolanda said. "Well, your heart's in good shape. You're taking good care of your body, by the looks of things. You eat plenty, I can tell. I'm also looking at your health record."

"I hardly ever get sick," I told her.

"So it seems," Yolanda said, grabbing the records in question. "You've been keeping up with your vaccinations right up until a few months ago. Why is that?"

"Family problems. The kind that leave you with none," I said, my tone somewhat sour.

"Oh, sorry I asked," Yolanda said in a sympathetic tone.

"Ah, it's fine. That wound healed a while ago," I said, waving a dismissive hand.

"I can give you a clean bill of health once I give you these vaccinations and test your eyesight," Yolanda said.

"D. E. G. O. L. S. Y. B. V," I listed off the chart from here.

"Ok, so your eyesight definitely isn't a problem. That chart is all the way across the room. Down to the vaccinations then," Yolanda said before smiling and grabbing the needle. "You know it's funny. Anyone who has even the basest of muscle mass is usually scared of needles."

"I've had things a lot worse than needles penetrate my skin," I said idly making Yolanda look at me curiously.

"Like?" she asked.

"Broken glass. That's how I got the scar on my right hand and foot," I said, pointing to the scar on my hand. "As a child, I played on a grandfather clock and it ended up falling on me. I remember the blood and the pain at the time. Quite an experience to have."

"That's quite the thing to be able to talk about casually," Yolanda said, wiping the blood off and handing me my shirt. "I got the injections in while you were talking. Also, if you're single and I'm not married when you're eighteen, call me." I laughed loudly as I put on my shirt on and walking towards the door. Looks like I affected more than just the students with my demeanor.

"I don't know why she encouraged you. I'm going to tell Emily on your one of these days," Jeremy said, pointing at me.

"What's she going to do to Yolanda? She takes care of everyone here. She kills her, who's she going to have to take care of her?" I questioned with a grin.

"Her replacement. She'll kill the woman you're having an affair with, and then you're next on her list," Jeremy said, pointing at me.

"At least I'll die happy. I pulled a seasoned woman. You can't go out any better than that," I said with my hands at my side before walking out.

"You are the limit, you know that?" Emily said, smacking me in my head once I came out. I grinned at her.

"Honey, you haven't seen my limit. Not yet. But I will say that you have nothing to worry about. I am yours," I assured her, putting my arms around her.

"So if Yolanda were to walk out here and offer to jump your bones, you wouldn't take it?" Emily questioned.

"I'd ask you could I save it for a birthday present, but I would say no," I said with a grin. She playfully hit me on my shoulder before wrapping her arms around my neck.

"Amazing. You could hardly string two words around me the first few days of dating. Now..."

"I'm about as bad as Odd. Yes, I know. I can't help it. It's fun," I said.

"Fun? You find careless flirting fun?" Emily asked, letting me go and looking at me curiously.

"Yes. The real flirting is meaningful," I said, making her smile.

"You know, you sure know how to pick your words," Emily said.

"That's because of my ADHD. My mind moves about a thousand miles a minute. I just pick out some words and say em. Every once in a while, the words aren't astronomically stupid," I said idly.

"Lemme guess. The words are smooth once in a blue moon," Emily said dryly.

"You know, you're beginning to sound a lot like me," I said, putting my hands around Emily's waist.

"All right, break it up love birds," Odd said with a joking tone. I did nothing but grin.

"I can't help it. I love to look, touch, and enjoy," I said with a suggestive look. Then I backed up a few steps before shaking my head. "I better stop. Otherwise, I'm going give everyone a show that looks like E rated sex."

Emily blushed and Odd raised a hand as if he were about to ask about the statement I just said, but put it back down as if he thought better of it.

"I'm dating the most hormonal guy in the school," Emily said, causing me to wink at her. The urge to follow up was great, but I fought it.

"Having fun?" Aelita asked, coming up to her.

"Don't you dare say it," Emily said as I opened my mouth. I had a death wish. This would be worth it.

"Not quite yet. I don't like giving shows without payment," I said. I then got smacked on the top of my head before laughing loudly. "Couldn't resist."

"You are the limit!" Emily exclaimed.

"Told you. You haven't seen my limit yet. But fine. I'll calm down," I said before jerking a thumb and Emily while looking at Aelita. "I swear. No concept of fun sometimes."

"I agree," Odd said with a nod.

"If it's anything like the previous situations Yumi told me, then you easily aggravate them," Aelita said reasonably, making Emily look at me triumphantly. It seemed Aelita's opinion was the only one Emily seemed to register because it coincided with hers. Women.

I sat next to Emily and, much to my disappointment, we couldn't spend our time making out. She said something about wanting everything to be normal when she went inside. I just had the feeling it was to pay me back for my crude humor. Just because I could understand it doesn't mean I liked it.

"That'll teach you to joke about dating a woman almost twice your age," Jeremy said with a smirk. Emily, Aelita, and Odd laughed at my expense while I sighed. But I was grinning.

"Bout time you get on me like I get on you all," I said, putting my hands behind my head with a grin.

"So what, you like the fact that we're teasing you?" Odd asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, being proud and liking something are two different things," I said, moving my hands up and down in a type of unbalanced scale fashion. Again, everyone laughed.

I flashed Aelita a thumbs up and a grin when she moved into the nurse's office with Sissi, causing Emily to tilt her head at me.

"She nervous about going for a checkup?" she asked me.

"Sort of. I just prefer to wish her luck on new things. To ensure her it's not a big deal," I said.

"What, are you her parent?" Emily said with a grin. I grinned back.

"Call me... a motivational speaker," I said with an airy hand.

"Trust me, he's actually good at it," Odd suddenly said.

"Give me an example," Emily said.

"I got you to want to date my crazy ass. I think that's example enough," I said with a grin.

"He's not lying," Odd said, making Emily glare at Odd slightly. He raised his hand in "Hey, I'm just saying."

"Glad know you get all defensive over me," I said, wrapping my arms around Emily with my chin gently touching her shoulder.

 _"Emily Leduc,"_ the nurse suddenly said. I didn't miss the emphasis in her words. "Aelita Stones. Elizabeth Delmas." I groaned.

"Who knows? Maybe she does want to take you up on your offer," Odd said with a snicker. Emily walked in, but not before thumping him hard on the head. I laughed at the sight while Jeremy nudged me.

"She is pretty defensive over you," he said.

"Yeah. I think it's because I've told her a few things about... me when it came to girls," I said, rubbing the back of my head in slight embarrassment. "Er... yeah. It gets kinda awkward when I talk about this."

"Then don't," Jeremy said.

"My pleasure," I said, widening my eyes ever so slightly to show my emphasis of how I really didn't want to talk about this subject.

Though, even if that wasn't the case, we got interrupted by the sound of Jeremy's laptop going off. The three of us looked at each other at the same time before we moved to go see what was on it.

"What's up?" Ulrich asked, coming up to us. Jeremy opened the laptop and I could see the image of an activated tower on the computer.

"One homicidal AI has woken up," I said simply. Ulrich sighed.

"Of course. XANA has no respect for anything," he said.

"What, cause we're doing it during a medical checkup? Best time to do it, I suppose," I said with a shrug.

"Wait here with Aelita. Meet me at the factory soon as she gets out," Jeremy said.

"Ulrich, you go with. Never hurts to have backup with you," I told Jeremy, causing him to nod. Ulrich walked towards the exit with Jeremy before I drew my eyes to the nurse's doorway.

A familiar scream from inside the nurse's office instantly made me run towards the doorway, barging through the door with my hands up in a combat position. My eyes instantly went to the terrified Emily with Sissi next to her, who looked exactly the same way.

"What happened?" I asked Emily in a soft tone.

"Nurse Yolanda took Aelita! Went out the window there!" Emily exclaimed, pointing in the direction. My eyes narrowed when faced with the open window. Me, along with Odd jumped out of it and landed on our feet. I then pulled out my phone and began to contact Jeremy.

"Bad news. Yolanda got possessed by XANA and she got her hands on Aelita," I told Jeremy.

 _"She'll probably try to get to the factory to so she can transfer Aelita to Lyoko. Then deliver her to the Scyphozoa,"_ Jeremy said.

"Then you handle the tower. Me and Odd got Yolanda," I said, hanging up the phone.

"Are you afraid of hurting your second girlfriend?" Odd asked with a smirk. I couldn't resist a small chuckle myself.

"We'll still make it work," I said, mentally shaking my head at our brief moment of stupidity. Thought it certainly won't be the last one we have.

Me and Odd caught sight of her heading down the corridor in the factory once we finally caught up to her with Aelita slung over her shoulder. Same old, same old. Ugh. Could you just die a couple dozen episodes sooner?

"Excuse me ma'am, but this handsome young man right here wants to confess his love for you," Odd said with a grin. If we weren't in a life or death situation, I'd thump Odd on the back of his head. Nevertheless, it did get her to turn around. I cracked my neck once she did, my eyes completely focused on the possessed nurse.

My eyes widened once I saw that she made a giant yellow electric ball of electricity in her hands. What the fuck was this? Dragonball Z?

Me and Odd both hit the deck as soon as she threw it, me flipping to the side to recover gracefully.

"Oh, you're going to have to aim better than-" I was cut off at another ball being thrown at my face in particular, narrowly missing me when I dipped my head back. I could feel my hair stick up because of the proximity of the electricity. "I'm gonna shut up now."

I noticed Odd moving with Aelita to try and get into the factory. Yolanda briefly turned towards them while summoning another electric ball to her hand. Mistake.

"Hey beautiful, this is gonna hurt," I said as I ran up to her and decked her across the face. I didn't stop there though. I followed it up with a kick to her knees to lower her into a kneel, the same foot instantly moving to her face in a roundhouse before jumping two feet in the air and coming down hard with a fist.

"Damn, you take a lot," I said, noticing that I seemed to stun her rather knock her out like usual. I then grabbed a nearby pipe and brought it down, but last minute, her body was surrounded by electricity, causing it to chain to my body for a split second before I threw it in a corner. "Agh! Bad idea! Bad idea!"

I gripped the wrist of my shocked hand before quickly moving back as fast as I could. I looked up, and Yolanda was heading towards me. But something else moved in a blur. Something that hit her with a flying kick in the back of her head. This time she was down for the count.

"Good timing," I said, wincing from the pain shooting through my fingers. "Ow."

"You alright?" Ulrich asked me. Though he didn't quite sound like Ulrich. His voice was slightly distorted. Then my eyes widened.

"Oh shit. Oh _shit,"_ I said through gritted teeth.

"What?" Ulrich asked.

"Jeremy activated a tower, didn't he?" I asked.

"Yeah. That's how I'm like this. What's bad about it?" Ulrich asked, holding his hands at his side.

"Because XANA gets control of that same tower eventually. And I forget what he does to you, but it won't be good. Only under normal circumstances, it would've been Odd instead of you," I told him as Yolanda stood to her feet. She wasn't down for long it seemed.

"Great. Stick with the others and hurry up with the tower," Ulrich said before making an electric ball appear in his hands. "How long do I got?"

"A few minutes... at the most," I trailed worriedly.

"I'll be fine. Go," Ulrich insisted. I nodded and walked through the door that was at the end of the corridor while still gripping my hand.

"There you are. What's wrong with your hand?" Aelita asked in a worried tone.

"Ah, it's nothing. Just got shocked a little. Hurts like hell, but it should wear off in a few," I assured her before turning to Jeremy. "Bad news man. XANA's gonna take control of that tower you activated after a few minutes. I don't know what he does when he gets it, but all I know is that it's not good."

"Oh, man. I should've predicted this..." Jeremy trailed, furiously typing on the computer.

"There's no way for you to predict it. Except through me. Try to come up with a firewall so you can keep him out," I told him.

"Ok, I'll try. In the meantime, get to the scanners," Jeremy said. We moved swiftly to get down to the scanners, and quickly got scanned onto Lyoko, the vehicles already waiting for us.

 _"Bad news,"_ Jeremy said as I hoisted Aelita onto my back. _"I can't do anything to stop XANA taking the tower. At least not at this moment. Future references are a definite might."_

"I was afraid of that. What about his intentions?" I said as we took off. "Is he taking control of Odd or just... killing him?" I said the last two words with a hesitant air.

 _"The second option, I'm afraid,"_ Jeremy said.

"Where's the other tower?" Yumi questioned.

 _"In the mountain sector. There's a way tower to the west,"_ Jeremy told us.

"I'll take her there. You two oughta hold things down here while we're gone," I said.

"Actually, you can deactivate towers as well. If I go with Yumi or Odd, we can move faster," Aelita suggested, making me blink in a perplexed fashion.

"I... guess we could. Alright, then you two stick with Aelita. Get her to that tower," I told them.

"What about you?" Yumi asked.

"Me? I can handle these fools," I said, setting Aelita on the ground. "I just pray no mega tanks..." I then dashed off as fast as I could. Normally had Aelita on my back, so to be able to move this fast was actually pretty crazy. By the feel of things, it took me less than a minute to get to the way tower. Had to play leap crab on the way over here, but it was all good.

I hopped down the tower without hesitation before performing a flip to land on the mountain sector platform. I had plenty of time to learn the lay of the land tower wise when I wasn't virtualized yet.

When I walked out of the tower, my vision was covered by an immense amount of fog. Sometimes with XANA, it was the same shit, different day.

 _"Robert, the tower is right in front of you. Can you see it?"_ Jeremy asked.

"I can't see a damn thing. There's so much fog," I said, raising a hand in front of my face.

 _"You're very close to the edge. Watch yourself,"_ Jeremy warned me.

"Hold on. I want to try something," I said before pressing my fingers to my temple. Like before, my subconscious zipped through the area and painted a picture of my path. "Ah, this still works. Glorious. I have a way to navigate myself."

"Well in that... watch out!" Jeremy exclaimed right as a laser was fired at me. I deflected the laser and lashed out with blue lightning in that direction. It hit nothing, given the way it continued through the fog, so I stopped it.

 _"Feel the Force,"_ I thought as I held my sword at my side with two fingers pressed to my temple. I had to focus on finding out my path. I couldn't stay in this one spot. Not while these hornets could somehow see me and I couldn't see them.

Luckily, it seemed I could somehow sense my path. Because as I was walking, I didn't seem to come across any gaps. I was taking small steps to be extra careful, but at least I was moving without falling.

 _"Your abilities... they're unlike anything the others have,"_ Jeremy suddenly said.

"And you're just now realizing this?" I questioned. It took a split second loss of focus to say that, but a split second is only a split second. Then again, that's all they really need.

 _"Well... no. But... it's a little... strange,"_ Jeremy said. _"You have a way to defend yourself, you can deactivate towers, and now you have this. What do you call it?"_

"Force Sense. Rather, every ability I've demonstrated thus far is something from Star Wars with Force users. Force Lightning, Sense, and just natural augmentation. I even have a minor ability with pulling objects given the way my blades come back to me when I hold my hand out. If..." I suddenly stopped to avoid smacking face first into a rock before moving around it.

"If I was able to the use the Force in its entirety, this would be child's play in comparison. But I can't because... I dunno. I guess I have to evolve or something."

"Then why aren't you at that point yet?" Jeremy asked.

"I don't..." I cut myself off with a grunt as I had to deflect a couple of lasers headed my way. I stopped where I was while deflecting said lasers before leading my lightning shot. I hit air again, which meant the hornets went the other way. "Dammit."

 _"You're almost there,"_ Jeremy told me.

"Your definition of almost is very different compared to mine," I said as I put my fingers to my forehead again. But again, my concentration was broken by more laser fire. I grunted in frustration.

"These hornets are as irritating as real ones. I can't guide myself."

 _"Alright, then I'll help you. Keep going straight until I say stop,"_ Jeremy told me. I nodded(as if he could see me) and started to walk at a semi fast pace. Luckily, I was able to devote all my concentration to deflecting, which barely slowed me down.

 _"There! Directly in front of you!"_ Jeremy exclaimed. I instantly ran in and a grin came onto my face as I walked on the platform.

"Whew! Stupid fog," I said once I deactivated the tower. "Everything cool?"

"Yes it is. The others have already deactivated the other tower. We gotta return to the past," Jeremy said, making me sigh.

"Great. More power for XANA," I said moodily. It didn't take long before the return to the past function to activate and we were sent back.

* * *

A/N: I know in this episode there was no return to the past because Aelita was able to smooth things over because of the fact that Sissi was the only witness. That was not the case this time. You can start to seem some difference from having some dating someone who isn't in the Lyoko gang. It causes problems. It's how it is sometimes. Hopefully it won't take me another couple months to get the next chapter up.


	23. Chapter 23 - On The Other Side

Episode References: Contact

* * *

"You good, man?" I asked Odd with a small nudge.

"Any butterflies?" Ulrich asked with a smirk.

"Nah, I'm- I'm cool," Odd stammered with a nervous smile. I patted him on the shoulder reassuringly.

"Don't worry. You'll be fine," I said with a warm smile. He looked at me and nodded. He looked a little more reassured, but not by much.

"Our first film is by Odd Della-Robbia, and it is titled, rather poetically, Natural Grandeur," the man at the stand said. (This dude's accent was really hard to understand)

I had to strain my ears to understand a couple of the words that he was saying, and gratefully, the film cutting on the screen interrupted him. At least I didn't have to hurt my ears to try and understand him.

 _"Ahh! Help!"_ the Odd in the film exclaimed. _"She's awake! Oh, no!"_ I snickered at the tone that he used on that particular part. I felt like it was very much intentional.

 _"What's all this racket about, huh?"_ the actor they got to play Jim said, much to the amusement of the students.

I shook my head at the actor they got to play Jim in this film. It wasn't the fact that he looked surprisingly similar to Jim. No, it was his imitation of Jim's voice. He said a sentence Jim said thousands of times when there was commotion, and the voice had a hilarious spin to it. The students seemed to love it.

 _"But... but we have to get out of here! She's coming! I tell you, she's as big as her ego!"_ Odd exclaimed. I started to laugh myself once I realized exactly who he would be talking about.

 _"That's impossible. Do you know how big that would make her?"_ the Jim actor asked. _"I think you've lost your senses."_ I put a hand over my mouth, but snickers slipped through the cracks. He's not disappointing us so far, I gotta say.

I looked over at Sissi, and started to laugh at the very perplexed look that was starting to come onto her face.

 _"Odd, you are wonderfully and hilariously evil. I love it,"_ I thought.

When the time came for Sissi to actually show up in the film, breathing at that point became almost impossible. His editing and the way he set up the situation was pretty damn spot on. It really completes the image of Sissi being as big as her ego. Only, I didn't think he made her big enough. I only laughed harder once I saw Sissi walk out in an outrage. No one likes being the ass end of a joke, but goddammit if this didn't make for a good laugh. I was really enjoying this.

Only, Sissi didn't walk out. She just pulled the plug on the film. I groaned along with the rest of the students. I was seriously enjoying that. But it seemed like she had a few words to say to Odd. This would also be a show to witness. So I put an arm over my chair and watched with interest.

"Odd, you are nothing but a-" At that point, I stopped watching and listening. I was acutely aware of the fact that a black swirl began to take place at her feet. My eyes widened, but it settled in before I could even react. I expected her to go crazy and attack everyone here. Would've been an awfully bold move on XANA's part.

But no. Rather... she couldn't talk. Well, at least talk in a language that we could interpret. I looked at her curiously. This didn't seem like XANA's style. What would he have to gain by making Sissi unable to talk in English? Putting aside the very obvious.

"Is something wrong?" Mr. Delmas asked his daughter, causing me to stand to my feet. I placed a hand on her forehead before looking at her curiously.

"She doesn't look sick," I said, frowning deeper as I looked her. But she was staring me directly in the face and talking. Was... was she trying to tell me something?

"I'll take care of this Mr. Delmas," Jim said, coming up to Sissi. "I think you've lost your senses. Alright, let's go to the infirmary."

"Alright children," Mr. Delmas shouted over the chuckles that were a result of Sissi's newfound language barrier. "I want each of you to go quietly back to your rooms. Jim, you take care of the students. I'll take Sissi to the infirmary." I looked at the others, and we nodded as one as we walked back to our dorms.

"Nope. No activated towers," Jeremy said as he checked the computer. "XANA's got nothing to do with it."

"It doesn't make sense for XANA to do something like this. I'm very familiar with that strange black, oily substance he uses to possess people, but... what would he have to gain by doing what he just did?" I questioned.

"It makes no sense," Aelita said, slightly elevating one of her crossed hands as Yumi walked in through the door.

"The nurse said that Sissi received an electric charge. She's in shock, but fine. There's nothing to worry about," she said.

"Ah, science. No matter the situation, people will find a way to make sure you're the cause of everything," I said with a shake of my head.

"Technically, this IS science. More complicated science, but science nevertheless," Jeremy corrected.

"True, true," I said with a nod.

"Ah, poor Sissi. I have to admit that her acting was really electrifying," Odd said.

"Not the time Odd," I said as I began to pace with my hand under my chin in thought. "I do have a suspicion though."

"That she was trying to tell us something?" Aelita said. I looked at her with a perplexed look and she gave me a hesitant smile.

"You have got to stop doing that," I said simply as I stopped pacing. "It can't be XANA, so... ugh, I wish this was clearer. Why couldn't whoever possessed Sissi speak in English? It's just got to be a language none of us understand."

"You think it's Franz?" Yumi questioned. All of us looked at her, and she shrugged. "I mean... given the way everything that's involved him recently... what with the destroyed diary and XANA taking his form last time..."

"That definitely has merit. He would have all the reason to want to talk to us. The problem is that we can't decipher what he wants to tell us," I said, my hands on the window and looking outside with blind focus.

"We can try and figure it out tomorrow. We can go visit Sissi and see if she'll give us more clues as for what to do. Let's get some sleep before XANA decides to change his mind about being nice," Jeremy said.

"Don't have to tell me twice," I said, walking out of the dorm and heading towards my room, but I felt a hand on my arm before I went inside. It was Aelita.

"Yeah?" I asked softly.

"Do you really think it's my father?" Aelita asked.

"I do. This doesn't fit XANA's MO at all. And the possessed Sissi I saw back in the theater seemed fully intent on delivering a message. There's no message that XANA would want to deliver that we don't already know, so I don't see why he would do that," I explained to her.

"Do you think we'll be able to talk to him?" Aelita asked.

"I don't know. We need something to work with though. Something that we can understand. We can't really do anything until we this becomes clearer," I explained, rubbing a temple.

"Until what becomes clearer?" a voice asked. Me and Aelita turned in synchronization, and Emily was standing there. Thank goodness she didn't arrive a couple of seconds sooner.

"What's wrong with Sissi," Aelita smoothly said. "You have to admit, it's kinda weird."

"Yeah. She seemed fully intent on ripping Odd a new one, and then it was like she couldn't even speak English!" Emily exclaimed.

"Who knows? Maybe the lack of oxygen to her brain is finally getting to her," I said, rotating my finger next to my head. Emily laughed and I could tell that Aelita had to force a snicker. Since she knew the whole situation, it was a lot less funny to her. I could see why.

"I hope she hasn't gone through a mind break or anything like that," Aelita said.

"I'm sure she'll be fine," Emily assured her before turning to me. "I just wanted to say good night."

 _"How_ do you want to say good night?" I asked with a raised eyebrow and a grin.

"Make your assumptions from this," Emily said, putting her hands around my neck and pulling me into a kiss. Normally I was the one to initiate kisses like this, but I certainly wasn't complaining.

"Night," Emily said with a smile.

"Night," I said with a grin as she went towards the girls' dorms. I turned, and Aelita was still standing there awkwardly. I chuckled slightly.

"Sorry if that was awkward to watch," I said.

"It very much was. Anyway, night," Aelita said with a wave.

"Night," I said, walking into my room.

* * *

"Code?" I questioned as I looked onto the computer screen.

"Written by Franz?" Ulrich asked.

"Uh huh. I ran the Supercomputer all night to translate it," Jeremy said.

I watched the screen as it showed the specific code and began to translate it into words. Hard to decipher words, but words that we could understand nevertheless.

"I can help you?" Yumi said, looking at the screen hesitantly.

"Sounds like Franz. The problem is properly being able to speak to him," I said.

"Think we oughta go to Lyoko?" Ulrich asked.

"We probably should. You never know what XANA might be up to. For all I know, Franz has a presence on Lyoko now and he's sending monsters after it," I said.

"Sounds like a plan. We'll go with you," Odd said.

"You guys will. I'll bring Sissi over. She might be able to help us a little bit more considering she's possessed by Franz," Yumi said, causing everyone in the room to nod.

"Go with Yumi. We'll be fine," I whispered in Aelita's ear before walking towards the elevator. I know she would've wanted to go with us, but I can't help but feel scared that we're getting closer and closer to the trap that frees XANA from the computer.

 _"I know you like running, but you might like a bird's eye view even better,"_ Jeremy said as he had transferred the Overwing onto Lyoko.

"I'll give it a whirl," I said, hopping onto the Overwing and flying off. But then my eyes widened at the sight of a tower ahead of us. It wasn't blue deactivated, XANA's red activated, or Jeremy's green activated tower.

"Jeremy..." Ulrich trailed as he looked at the tower.

 _"What?"_ he asked.

"You ever seen a white tower before?" Odd asked.

 _"White tower? You think it's..."_

"Franz? I wouldn't say it was a coincidence that this is the first time we're seeing a white tower and the first time Franz has properly tried to contact us. It's definitely him," I said, looking at the tower and dodging trees on the Overwing. "Maybe I can access the tower and properly talk to him."

"Then let's get there," Ulrich said, revving his engine and moving faster.

 _"The three of you! Behind you!"_ Jeremy exclaimed. I turned and my eyes widened at the sight of three mega tanks in pursuit. Two in front, one in the back.

"Holy shit. XANA isn't playing," I said, flying higher in the air so they couldn't get to me. Odd did the same, and Ulrich did a fancy drift in between the mega tanks, causing me to smile.

"Ha!" I exclaimed in triumph. Only their inability to shoot us didn't seem to deter them from moving. Then I looked towards the tower and immediately understood.

"Oh, shit. Mega tanks are the only things XANA has that can damage towers," I said.

 _"You've got to stop those monsters!"_ Jeremy exclaimed.

"Yeah, I know. Problem is though if I get devirtualized, I can't get into the tower. And Aelita's still getting Sissi," I said, my eyes on the tower.

"Well, try not to risk anything. We'll try and keep the tanks occupied for the most part," Ulrich said.

"I got an idea. If we fly at one of those tanks at the same spot precisely..." I said, pointing at the tanks. "...we should be able to knock at least one of them off."

"Then we'll try it. Which tank are we attacking?" Odd asked. I pointed to the one that was on my left. I nodded to the other two guys before coming in hot with a hard ram with the Overwing. It was quickly followed by Ulrich slamming his vehicle into and using its body as a ramp at the time while Odd did something similar to what Ulrich did. I smiled as it did knock the mega tank off the ledge.

 _"Nice thinking,"_ Jeremy complimented.

"Yup. I'm awesome," I said with a grin.

 _"Bad news. XANA has activated a tower. It's in the ice sector,"_ Jeremy said.

"This tower comes first. It has to be protected," I said.

"We can handle the bowling balls. You need to go deal with that tower before the others end up in some serious danger," Odd said. I sighed, but I knew he was right.

"Try to use their fire against each other. You can try and knock em off like that," I said before turning the Overwing around and heading towards a way tower.

 _"Down and out... under and over..."_ I thought as I traveled through the tower and started to fly towards it. The way to the tower was clear. A little... too clear.

I kept my eyes open the entire time; senses taut the entire time. But nothing came. I hopped off the Overwing, went into the tower and deactivated it.

"No protection? Wonder why that is," I said as I walked out.

Only to get blasted in the gut by a crab that sent me flying back in the tower. I groaned as I laid on the center of the platform.

"Yup. I have shit luck," I said as I rose to my feet. "Forget the Overwing. I'll just take the tower back to the forest." So I jumped down the tower and went back to the forest.

 _"Robert! Is the tower deactivated?"_ Jeremy asked.

"Yeah, taken care of. Got blasted in the gut by a crab when I tried to go back for the Overwing, but it's fine. Tower gave me my life points back," I told him.

 _"Good. Because things are getting a little rough back at the white tower. XANA has Odd and Ulrich surrounded by six mega tanks,"_ Jeremy said, making my eyes widen.

"Please tell me you're joking," I said, beginning to dash back towards the white tower.

 _"I wish I was. Odd and Ulrich have taken care of one already, but it's hard for them to press any sort of offensive,"_ Jeremy said.

"Then I'll help with that," I said as I turned up the speed in my legs.

As I was beginning to come within sight of the tower, I suddenly felt my legs get tripped up by something that wasn't hard, yet... very forceful.

"Shit. What the hell did I-" I shook the cobwebs out of my face only to come face to face with the Scyphozoa. I then raised a sword to try and counter it, but I ended up getting shot in the back of my right leg. "Agh! Shit! I'm in a bad spot here!"

 _"Hold on. I'm sending Yumi towards you,"_ Jeremy said. That was all I caught before I felt my hands bound to my sides and rendered immobile. Then everything went blank.

* * *

I groaned as I turned on my side. My head felt like the closest representation of a hangover that I was going to get in this time period.

"You ok?" Aelita asked in concern. I looked over, and saw that everyone was at my bedside.

"Peachy. Other than the fact my head felt like it was going to explode when I got up. What the hell happened?" I asked.

"Scyphozoa held you in place for a few minutes. It didn't manage to get your memory, but you didn't get back up. We had to devirtualize you," Yumi said.

"Great. Who knows what the hell XANA did to me?" I questioned, sitting upright.

"It certainly can't be good for your well being. You feel ok now?" Jeremy asked.

"Yeah, I'm good. Hopefully, it's just a false alarm," I said, waving a dismissive hand. "Hopefully..."


	24. Chapter 24 - Disadvantageous Advantages

Episode References: The Key

* * *

"How long have you been in here?" I asked Jeremy as we came up the elevator.

"Long enough. I spent the whole night reading Franz Hopper's diary," he said.

"Anything good?" Ulrich asked. He simply gestured us over and had us look at the screen.

"Listen to this," Jeremy said before hitting the play button.

 _"June 6, 1994, day 67. Project Carthage was a military program used to block enemy communications,"_ Franz said.

"Well, that solves that," I said simply.

"Wait, it's further down," Jeremy said, fast forwarding the tape.

 _"So I built the Supercomputer, created Lyoko, and last of all XANA to destroy Carthage,"_ Franz said before Jeremy fast forwarding the tape some more.

 _"June 6, 1994, day 639,"_ Franz said before Jeremy sped it up again.

"Wouldn't have been easier to just leave it on the part we needed to watch?" I questioned.

"Didn't think about that at the time. Don't worry. It shouldn't take too much longer," Jeremy said before stopping it.

 _"June 6, 1994, day 1265. Someone's watching me. Someone wants to get rid of me."_ I frowned. This Franz Hopper sounded paranoid, jumpy. Well, he was repeating the same day over and over again, so it would stand to reason that could have some undesirable side effects.

 _"I wanted to destroy the Supercomputer,"_ Franz said on the place Jeremy stopped it at. _"And destroy all the evidence of my activities. That's when I discovered... one if its fascinating properties. Returning to the past. It gave me all the time I could possibly need to perfect my great project. The only thing that would allow me to escape my enemies."_

"June the 6th, 1994, day 2546," Franz said.

"This is it!" Jeremy exclaimed.

 _"The scanners in the virtualization programs are ready! In a few hours, I will go to Lyoko with Aelita. Just like me, Aelita will hold the keys to Lyoko. Together, we will be the absolute masters. We will live together. Forever,"_ Franz said, closing the journal.

"Interesting..." I said, still looking at the screen.

"I thought you said it was missing memory," Aelita said in a subdued tone.

"It is. That's why the Scyphozoa functions the way it does. The keys are connected to your mind, your memory. If he takes that, he's out of the Supercomputer. This circumstances are too convenient. He's planning to try and take your memory these upcoming days. We can't allow him to fool us. We can't let him get his hands on the keys," I explained.

"I located it. Well, the fake fragment anyway. Do we just ignore it?" Jeremy asked.

"Yes. We have to. In this case, the best thing to do is to do nothing at all. Besides, we'll have plenty of time to enjoy the end of the year dance," I said with a smile.

"Far better than a night of dealing with XANA," Ulrich said, putting his hands behind his head. I looked at the dejected Aelita and put a hand on her shoulder to get her attention with a tilted head.

"You're coming right?" I asked as I forced a grin on my face. I knew there was something wrong with her. Something about what her father did. I can't really blame her. There may have been method in his madness, but it was madness in its purest form.

"Um..." she started, but I shook my head.

"Uh uh. You're not getting out of this. Look, I'll teach you to dance if you so wish," I said.

"You know how to dance?" Yumi asked me.

"Is that so hard to believe?" I said, raising my hands at my side. "I may dance like a crazed fool at a casual party, but I know how to break out a one two step for a more casual dance as well." I adjusted my collar in a cocky manner, and Aelita seemed unable to hold back a smile. Good.

"You do realize you two are going to be asked to dance all night, right?" Jeremy said, pointing to me and Ulrich. The both of us shrugged.

"Whatever happens happens/It is what it is," Ulrich and me said at the same time.

"I'll come," Aelita assured me. "Just promise me I won't look like a fool." Aelita's gaze sort of darted towards Jeremy, and I easily understood. She wanted to dance with him. I'm not sure I could teach her how to dance to the point where she could lead him if necessary, but challenge accepted.

"I promise I will make you look like the second swaggiest dancer on the floor. The first being myself, of course," I said, lowering myself into an extravagant bow.

"Oh brother," Yumi said with a roll of her eyes. Aelita stifled a giggle though, and it seemed whatever thoughts that were going through her head were gone now. That was good.

"We'll be the Three Musketeers of the dance floor!" Odd exclaimed. "The mightiest! The fightiest! The..."

"If you keep using phrases like that, the stupidest," I said dryly, making everyone laugh. I grinned as we all started to move towards the elevator. XANA wasn't luring us into a trap this time.

* * *

"Maybe this wasn't such a good idea," Aelita said, going for the door as soon as she walked in. But she was not faster than me, nor was she stronger.

"What? You don't want to look good for your man?" I said with a smirk. Her face got red at my insinuation, and I laughed gently before pulling her towards the center of my room. It wasn't often that my room was clean and had no clutter in it. She was going through with this.

"Alright, I'll stop. It's not that difficult. You don't have to worry. The crowd loves a woman that can sing and dance. Well, you're not quite a woman yet, but you get what I mean," I told her.

"I get what you mean. One step at a time, right?" Aelita questioned.

"Ah, you're learning. We won't start any music though. Let's just start with the basics. Come here, you."

Aelita approached me and I placed her hands where they were supposed to go. One on my waist, the other in one of my hands.

"Now, watch your feet," I said, making her immediately look down. "One thing you really don't want to do is step on your partner's toes. Did that a few times when Emily taught me how to do this. Dancing is not the same thing as combat footing, apparently."

"Now, watch your feet and take it one step at a time. I'll lead you. Just follow what I'm doing. When it comes to the actual dance, you move your feet to the rhythm of the music that's playing," I said, moving her around. Aelita looked down more than up in an attempt to avoid stepping on my feet. "One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. See how my feet are moving? They're at a set pattern. You can count levelly like I just did to time your steps as well."

"And Emily managed to teach you this?" Aelita asked as she was still looking down to avoid my feet.

"Yeah. It's not as hard as you might think, once you get the hang of it. You might want to try and pick this up quickly cause I'm not sure if Jeremy knows how to dance himself. You'll have to lead and steer him," I told him.

"This for a slow song. What about those fast paced songs?" Aelita asked.

"Do what I do. Dance like a crazed buffoon and make yourself look good while doing it," I said before twirling her and pulling her back up close. "I'm not sure if Jeremy could handle that, but maybe I'll start on him next. For now, show me if you've picked up anything."

Aelita nodded and tried to look up as she was dancing. I moved my feet in the set pattern that I had adapted to, and even while she was looking up at me, I didn't feel my feet get prodded on once. I smiled.

"Quick learner. Think you can try and lead me?" I asked with a smirk.

"I wouldn't go that far," Aelita said, releasing me. "But I do think I have the basics down. Thanks."

"A knight lives to serve the princess," I said with a regal bow in her direction. "Think I'll go meet Emily for a bit before the dance. I'll see you later?"

"Um, one more thing. Did you know I was upset back at the factory?" Aelita asked, making my smile disappear.

"Yes. But my goal was to cheer you up before you did anything drastic. It seemed that thick skull of yours needed a reminder as to why we want you here. Why we need you here. You must never forget this, and I speak for everyone. You are never a burden to us. You are never less than what we say you are. You are special, and you are real. Your mad scientist of a father may not understand that, but we do. I was in this situation once before remember? After the situation where the both of us nearly drowned?" I explained to her, my arms crossed as I sat down on my bed.

"You've been listening to my counter arguments too much," Aelita said, making me laugh shortly.

"Hope you don't mind if I bend the copyright laws a little," I said with a grin as I put an arm around her shoulder. "So here's my advice. Stop being idiotic about this. That is very unbecoming of you. Find Yumi or Emily. Wear something good to this party and make an impression. To Jeremy and everyone else. It shows a lot about the person at formal events given how they carry themselves. Show yourself as skilled and confident; ready to take on the world."

"You've been listening to them _too_ much," Aelita said before her grin got wider. "Thanks."

"Not a problem. Now go on. I must find my own date and make arrangements with her. I've taught her the glories of dancing like a complete and utter idiot for any song that isn't a slow one, so we'll be on the dance floor looking good," I said, my hands at my side and my body moving from side to side while I was snapping my fingers. Aelita laughed at my 'dance moves' and I shooed her out of the room while I was behind her.

We ended up going in opposite directions, what with Aelita going to find Yumi somewhere and me going to find Emily. I had a feeling she was at her dorm so that's where I decided to go. At least, I didn't make it because I got smacked in the back of my head hard enough to floor me and had me seeing stars. A couple hits like that, and I was knocked unconscious.

* * *

When I awoke, I couldn't move. I groaned and shook my head before looking to see that I was in the grasp of the Scyphozoa. Struggling was useless, but it's not like I wasn't going to try. But something seemed of. The Scyphozoa wasn't even trying to steal my memory. Given how I was actually conscious and able to look around and think, something was _definitely_ off.

I was also somewhat shocked by what my guards were. Three mega tanks and three tarantulas. XANA pulled out the big guns whatever reason. What exactly was he planning? This was new. I guess I forced XANA to change plans. Now he was trying something a lot more drastic. I didn't like this at all.

I was waiting for what seemed like ages before a screech from the tarantulas alerted to the fact that Ulrich and the others had arrived. Unfortunately, because of that fact, the Scyphozoa immediately started siphoning my memory. I didn't even get to finish my thought about whether or not XANA was putting them through a time trial. But I did get to finish it once I dropped to the floor.

"You ok?" Aelita asked me.

"I'm fine," I said, slowly getting to my feet. "Got ambushed right after I left my room. Never saw it coming."

"Those stupid tanks man," Odd said. "Ulrich and Yumi got devirtualized in the fight."

"No worries. The tower is..." I immediately grabbed my skull as a horrid ringing sound started to bounce through it. My knees bent from the exertion and I started gripping the sides of my skull like I was trying to claw my skin off. Then it stopped. But something changed. Something... foreign traveled through my body. Without a word, my body grabbed a sword and impaled Odd immediately.

 _"No! Stop! What the hell is happening?_ " part of my mind exclaimed. I could think of my own accord, but I couldn't say the same for my actions. It's as if I wasn't...

Then I remembered. The Scyphozoa could adapt your behavior to serve XANA's purposes if you spent enough time in its grasp. It happened with Aelita, and if it could happen to her, it can happen to me.

"Drop... me..." I managed to strain out of my voice. Then an unsettling screech from the Scyphozoa returning out of thin air rang in my ears, causing my bones to chill. I couldn't do anything. But XANA would make me do one more thing. Impale myself in the gut. I didn't even to be there anymore. The deed was done. The Scyphozoa had Aelita all to itself.

I stepped out of the scanner while managing to stay on my feet as I slugged back into the room. Everyone was around the computer, and I turned to Jeremy.

"Transfer one of them back! Me even! I don't want to let this happen!" I exclaimed.

"Alright, everyone get to the scanners. Robert, you're the best chance of getting there the fastest. Let's hope that mind control XANA made you do was a one time thing, because I can't seem to transfer directly on the spot," Jeremy said, his trembling and fearful eyes betraying how scared he actually was. I don't blame him. I stuffed my fear down with resolve. It was the best way I had to deal with it.

"It should be," I said before thinking, _"Let's hope he hasn't adapted to permanent mind control."_

Immediately landing on Lyoko, I could safely say that I had control of my actions again. Who knows how long that would last?

I didn't think about that for no longer than a second as started running as fast as I could. Right now, XANA was taking her memory, and if I didn't get there in time, he was gonna get out of the computer. I couldn't let that happen. None of us could let that happen.

Once I had sight of the Scyphozoa, I immediately went into a lunge at it, ready to slice every part of it to bits. But seemingly, about a second before my sword made contact with its tentacles, it let go. _It let go. One second_ before I got here.

I stopped frozen when I landed as I gazed at the Scyphozoa. It immediately took off. Then a feeling of dread sat in my stomach. Dare I turn around? Well, I would have to, wouldn't I?

You know, there are just some images that are plain unnerving. The list goes on and on of things that should never be seen by anyone. But have you actually seen one of your best friends with their eyes open, just staring at the ceiling with the blank look of death on their faces before they eased close? That expression more than anything stuck to my eyelids like glue.

 _"Aelita!"_ I heard Jeremy exclaim on the other end. He sounded on the verge of tears. I was on that way myself as I made my way over to her body. Her... I didn't want to say the word 'corpse.' It just didn't work. But then, I got a little bit of hope. Franz Hopper would come by here soon. He would save his daughter. He would save her. But that look... more than anything I wanted to forget it. That lifeless look that she took for a split second... it was painful to think about.

After a period of waiting, I then began to realize that he hadn't shown up yet. I looked up at the sky of the Desert Region we were in, but nothing came. My heart sank. Did me being here change everything? Did I just doom one of my friends? I definitely wouldn't be able to live with myself if that was the case.

"Robert... Your hand..." Yumi trailed.

"What about..." I eased my eyes open because I immediately shut them after I began to lose hope that Hopper was coming. But indeed, my right hand was glowing a bright white. It was almost blinding, even though the radius wasn't much. It seemed to only shine from two of my fingers. This was something that was rather uncommon to me. Seemingly on some type of instinct, I took the two fingers that were glowing bright white and pressed them gently on her forehead.

Almost as if the heavens were opening, a bright white light shined down from the sky and onto where I placed my fingers. Her head raised towards the ceiling ever so slightly, and it took minutes, but her eyes finally opened. And it wasn't that horrible lifeless look either. No, she was very much alive. My question was... how the hell could I even do that? I mean, it took everything Franz Hopper had to give her her memories back. I did it with a simple gesture to the forehead. It didn't make sense. None of this made logical sense anymore.

Then I felt the weight in my arms disappear as I saw Aelita devirtualized. Without hesitation, I stabbed myself in the gut and instantly devirtualized myself. I grabbed the edge of the scanner for support as I felt so weak that I couldn't even really stand on my own two feet properly. But then I lost my grip and fell face first onto the ground. I felt a gentle arm help raise me up and I saw it was Aelita. She didn't look the healthiest herself after being devirtualized.

"I'm fine," I said as I tried to push myself up to show that I actually was. I barely made it four inches off the ground before I had to stop.

"No you're not. Jeremy, help me here," Aelita said. I felt a second arm support my other one as they damn near dragged me to a corner where I could just sit. My bones felt like jelly. _That_ was why you didn't get virtualized back to back, but the situation called for it. I then looked up at Aelita.

"You ok?" I asked.

"Your concern is admirable, but I would be more concerned about you right now," Aelita said.

"I'm not fine. He took my knowing of the situation and turned it into an advantage. Regardless of everything I was hoping to avoid, he still got out of the Supercomputer," I said with a sigh as I looked up at Aelita. "And that look on your face when he finished taking your memory... it's there at the back of my mind still. That lifeless look. It's something I really don't want to remember. Ever."

"I'm alive, thanks to you," Aelita reminded me.

"Yeah, and that was random circumstance. I don't even know how I did it. I just..."

"Does the how really matter right now? You saved her life," Jeremy reminded me, making me sigh.

"Yeah, I know. I'm definitely relieved. It's just... let's not focus on that right now. How about we just call it a night? I feel awful," I said.

"We can make up some excuse at the dance if you want us to. We can just kind of be there to say that you caught something and we just wanted to check up on you, which is why we only arrived at dinner," Yumi said, making me nod.

"That'd be nice," I said as I stood to my feet. "I'm starting to get a little feeling back in my legs. I know I'll have to make it up to Emily considering I missed the dance cause of this whole XANA thing, and it's only gonna be a couple of days until summer starts and she visits her family for those three months."

"Alright, then we'll head back," Yumi said.

"I know what's going through your head now. It's not your fault that this is happening. Know that you did for her what we couldn't. Remember that," Jeremy told me. I nodded, and his words definitely had truth, but that didn't stop that one uneasy fact from creeping into my skull: XANA was free of the Supercomputer. And given how things were turning out, whoever would be the victor at the end could be either one of us.

* * *

A/N: This is a two part thing. I got a little addition to add to post events of The Key. It'll take place right after we get out of the factory and start heading down to dinner.


	25. Chapter 25 - Heartbreak

A/N: I was gonna wait longer to upload this, but I figured why not. Go ahead and upload it now. Note: The next few chapters will not cover any of the episodes. Don't know how many, but I'll say that plenty of them.

* * *

"Man, I'm starving," Odd said.

"When aren't you starving?" I asked, stretching my arms out to relieve them of soreness. "Man, I'm tired. Luckily we made it in time for dinner. We have less than ten minutes though."

"It'll have to do. Come on," Jeremy said before my phone rang. I quickly answered as I recognized that caller ID.

 _"Meet me on the side of the dorms. I want to ask you something. That is, if you're free,"_ Emily said as soon as I put the phone against my ear.

"Yeah, I just finished up. I can meet you," I said. Then I heard a dial tone as she just hung up. No goodbye or anything. Weird.

"Emily?" Yumi questioned.

"Yup. To be fair, I haven't seen her all day. I definitely owe her, given the fact that I didn't show up to the dance like, _at all,"_ I said, putting my phone back in my pocket.

"For the sake of you two, I hope we find out how to kill XANA quickly," Ulrich said. I snorted.

"So do I. I'm tired of having to treat her like a second priority whenever XANA attacks. If you don't mind, wrap some food in a napkin and hand it to me. I don't want to go to bed hungry," I told him. Ulrich gave me a thumbs up and I smiled at him in an appreciative way before directing away from the cafeteria and toward the dorms. I quickly spotted her near the dorm building and walked up to her with a smile.

"So what'd you want to see me about?" I asked Emily as I planted a kiss to her cheek. But something about her seemed... stiff. Like she was just there for the kiss and not actually receiving it. Something had to be wrong.

"We need to talk," Emily said, making me internally groan. I knew nothing good was going to come of this. Every time a female says those words, it's usually never good. It'll likely be some problem that I'll have to solve later on.

"Alright, what is it? I'm all ears," I said, paying abrupt attention. Just because I knew it was nothing good didn't mean that I didn't care. That actually made all the more reason to care.

"Where do you go?" Emily asked. I sighed. No second guessing what she meant by that.

"I thought we already went over this," I told her.

"I know. I thought you might actually want to tell me this time," Emily said.

"I told you. I can't. It's a family secret. If I could tell you, I would," I told her. It was the same thing I told her every time she brought it up. The more and more I said it, the more and more I was getting tired of saying it. It also felt more like a lie than a technical truth. The group was my family in bond, not blood.

"This secret involves me too," Emily said.

"How do you figure that?" I questioned.

"When you go off at random times and don't tell me where you're at, then it involves me. You know I worry about you," Emily said. My eyes softened and I had to bite my tongue. I was tempted to tell her. I really wanted to tell her. But I knew I couldn't. I just couldn't. It was dangerous. Not just to her, but what would happen to all of us if she decided to say anything to anyone. That is, if she believed how ludicrous it would sound.

"I'm sorry to worry you. But it's just something I can't divulge to anyone. I promised I wouldn't," I told her. She nodded before reaching in her purse and pulling out a tape recorder, cradling it like an extremely small child.

"Hmm. Then why does Aelita know?" Emily asked before playing the tape recorder. I remembered this conversation. It was really recent.

 _"Just how how often do we have to do this?"_ I questioned over the tape.

 _"If you don't know, you can sure as hell believe I don't,"_ Aelita said.

 _"Let's ignore the fact that I'm infecting you all with cussing as part of your language. I'm starting to hate doing this. I want a normal life. It was fun at first, but now..."_

 _"You'll get it. I promise you. Soon everything'll be alright."_

 _"I hope so. But there's just that doubt of not measuring up when the time comes."_

 _"You are one of the strongest people I know. You can do this._ We _can do this."_ I let out a deep sigh on the recorder that was filled with burden.

 _"Night."_

 _"Night."_

She then clicked the recorder and I wasn't quite sure how to respond. I'm glad we played the pronoun game like hell in that conversation. I sure wasn't going to open up with an "I can explain." That's just asking for trouble. Actually, never mind. I had a pretty good idea where to start.

"I wasn't aware you owned a tape recorder," I said, frowning at the device.

"No I don't. Cause I don't need one. Herb however, seemingly does, as he's the one who gave this to me," Emily said, holding up the item. I bristled with irritation. Trust Sissi's little group to try to butt in and make as many problems for as possible to go along with XANA. Stamp 'sucker' at the top of my forehead, because I actually thought the girl was getting better at stopping herself from butting into stuff that didn't involve her.

"I see," I said calmly while on the inside I had a dark image of choking the hell out of the dude. His eyes bulging as I strangled him and all. My mind really needed some therapy. Then again, so did a lot of other people.

"Are you seeing Aelita behind my back?" Emily said.

 _"No._ I'm not. That is not the kind of person I am," I said honestly, but she didn't seem to believe me.

"I suppose the best way to hide is to hide in plain sight, huh? You two always did act close to each other in public. At times, it was like there was no one else in the world," Emily said.

"That's just how we are. If you don't believe me, you can't forget the fact that Aelita has it bad for Jeremy. You can't honestly be taking him seriously?" I questioned, gesturing to the tape recorder.

"I didn't want to when he showed me the recorder, but I spent the whole day thinking about this when Herb gave me this. At times you don't show to our dates, a prime example being the dance that's one of the _last_ few days I get to see you before summer starts. A lot of times I don't even get a response from you when I call. During those sessions you usually take about ten minutes to a half hour. What do you do during that time period?" Emily asked me.

"I told you. I-" This time Emily cut me off, her voice angry and impatient.

"I've heard the same thing _so_ many times from you. If it's really a family secret, then why does Aelita know?" Emily asked.

"Cause she found out. I didn't tell her about this, and I sure as hell would've made her forget it if I could. I had to keep her quiet about the whole thing and cover my tracks just to make sure no one else would find out. For fucks sake, I come back to the dorms bone tired after I finish with it," I told her, rubbing my temples. Which is a fact. I come back to these dorms tired as hell when XANA attacks late at night. Most of the time, I don't even feel like conversating.

"Are you involved in something illegal?" Emily asked me.

"No, I'm not," I told her.

"Cause if you are, I wouldn't mind if you are lying to try and protect me. If that's it, it's ok. You don't have to keep it hidden from me," Emily said sincerely. I wanted so badly to tell her that it was what I was doing. But it would be a lie. A flat out lie. It would be an easy way out, but it'd be a dishonest one as well. Plus the idea of me being involved in something illegal wasn't exactly smart to admit if what she thought was true somehow leaked.

"No. I assure you what I'm doing isn't illegal," I told her honestly.

"Then I don't know what else to believe other than my first suspicion," Emily said. I grabbed her right hand, which was the hand she had the promise ring I gave her on.

"You see this? It's a promise ring. When I gave it to you, I promised you that I would be the most faithful person that I could ever be to you. Just give me a while longer. Once it's over, I don't have to do this anymore," I told her with one of the heaviest voices I ever had. I could only hope what I told her worked. Please... it's already been a shitty day...

"It's not enough," Emily suddenly said. "There's nothing more I can really think of to let me believe you."

"Then what do you want me to do? I can't tell you what I'm doing. I am bound by my word. My hands, my feet, everything," I told her, holding my hands together symbolically.

"I don't think there's anything you can tell me at this point. Your promises..." Emily trailed before taking off the ring. She then walked up to me, opened my hand, and put the ring in it before closing my hand back up. "... just aren't enough. I'm done. I just can't deal with it anymore. We're done." Then she walked away.

For a while, I just stood there. Completely immobilized by what she just said. I opened my hand and looked at the promise ring in my hands. It was easily the most expensive thing I had ever bought for someone. But at the time, it was not about the money. It was about to what I could turn into. How it could've turned into a diamond ring rather than a promise ring later in life. How I had someone to talk to; Someone to take me away from the issues with XANA and help me feel like a person. Normal. A person to be loved and cared. To always rely on. Those hopes had been all but shattered.

I sniffled at one point when I was looking at the ring. The hand holding it wouldn't stop trembling. I used my other hand to try and steady it, but it wasn't working. I wanted to make it stop, but it wouldn't. Just like this situation with XANA and what just happened.

Then I hadn't even noticed I had started crying until the tears were hanging at the very bottom of my chin, the sensation making them almost impossible to ignore. I hadn't cried in sadness for a long time. When I was younger, I only cried out of anger. And even that seemed to go away. I didn't even cry during my grandmother's funeral as a child. There was an intense sadness and watery eyes, but not tears. Maybe it was some crap about not being as in touch with my emotions as I am now.

But right now, I could feel the tears dropping one by one and I couldn't stop them if I wanted to. I started letting out sobs as I held the ring close to my chest. I fell to my knees and started sobbing on the ground under me, staining the ground and my pants with tears.

I stood to my feet and ran inside the building, trying my best to hold in my sobs, but I wasn't doing a very good job. Sobs kept slipping out every five seconds and there wasn't much I could do to stop it. By the time I made it up to the boys' dorm, I timed it extremely wrong as it seemed dinner had just ended and everyone was flooding the hallway.

"Robert! I got your food!" I could hear Ulrich exclaim from far away, but my one concern was getting to my room to be by myself cause that was the thing I wanted the most right now. So I didn't respond.

I quickly made it to my room and slammed the door behind me. If I could've locked it, I would've. But there were no locks on these doors, which I didn't understand in the least bit. And hated so much as of now. There was nothing to stop anyone from coming in here and seeing how miserable I looked.

I leaned against the wall next to my bed and pressed the ring directly against my chest before I started to cry relentlessly. After trying to hold it in on the walk over here, it seems I've only made my grief worse.

I don't recall ever crying so much that it felt like the air itself was avoiding me. My lungs felt void as I continued to cry and they had to turn into gasping sobs as I needed breath more than I needed to cry, so my body auto corrected itself.

"What's wrong?" I heard a soft voice ask. I wasn't aware that anyone came in.

I closed my eyes even tighter at Aelita's voice. It only made the conversation I just had a lot more sharp in my mind. But somehow, I managed to get words flowing out of my mouth.

"She's gone. She's gone," I sobbed, pressing the ring even closer to my heart. It felt like it was going to make an imprint even through the shirt, but I didn't care at the moment.

"Who is?" Odd asked softly. I only sobbed harder. I couldn't answer that question. Even thinking her name hurt. I thought it was just an exaggeration in movies, but you didn't know until you had really been through it.

"Who's gone Robert?" Jeremy asked. His voice was very sympathetic. Everyone who spoke sounded that way. I wanted to give them an answer, but I couldn't speak. So I managed to remove the ring from my chest and held it out while my trembling hand was outstretched.

"Oh."

"Damn."

"I was afraid of this..."

All reactions I had expected. Jeremy did say that this might backfire with having to keep Lyoko a secret like this. I knew he might've been right, but I wanted to see it through to the end. Look how that ended up for me. Maybe I was just that kind of idiot.

"It's hard man. You never know until you've really been through it," I said, managing to find my voice. But it sounded ragged and sorrowful. I hardly recognized it as my voice.

"This was a relationship I tried my hardest to maintain. I had to balance keeping a relationship together, school, and dealing with XANA. They make this double life of being a hero seem so awesome on TV, but it's hard. Nothing is normal for you. Nothing. And there are no guarantees, no second chances, no girl that'll just stay faithful to you so you can be together forever while you're bullshitting her on what you actually do behind the scenes. That doesn't happen in the real world."

Then I felt a soft hand touch my right shoulder before leaning me towards the left. I laid my head on Aelita's shoulder while she was rubbing my right shoulder in comfort. I can honestly say it was a lot more comforting that being here by myself.

I knew I wouldn't have been able to keep this bottled up for long. They wouldn't have let me. But when you had people around you to help you through it rather than dealing with it alone, it felt a lot better. To know there were people still here for you really helped.

"I was afraid this would happen," Jeremy repeated, shaking his head remorsefully.

"I don't think now's the time for an 'I told you so' Jeremy," Ulrich said, glaring at his friend.

"No, that's not what I meant. I was-"

"It's alright," I said miserably. "I lived in oblivion about the whole thing. Acting like having to do all of these Lyoko trips with no Return to the Past wouldn't have an effect. The more you gain, the more you have to lose. I should've known that eventually something was going to have to give from this double life. My grades. My sleep. Emily. For a while I had it all. Then I lost the main thing out of the bunch I cared about. I was devoted to that relationship. And it still crumbled. I still lost her."

My eyes were looking at nothing currently, but my vision started to well up with tears again. But I immediately felt a hand move up to wipe them off.

"Don't cry. Please don't," Aelita said, her voice starting to crack up as well.

"I can't. You don't know what it's like to lose someone like that. And I certainly wouldn't wish it on any of you," I said, tears falling freely down my face. I felt Aelita turn me around and hold me close to her chest. For some reason, I only cried harder. I could feel her hand running softly through my head in a type of comfort, but it did nothing for me. No one else said a word the rest of the night.

It looked like there was a giant sleepover in my room if you were to walk in it now. The floor was covered with people lying down. At least Odd's head was against the door, which would block anyone who tried to come in. It'd be painful for him, but it'd block them.

As I woke up, the smell of strawberries filled my nostrils. I didn't need to guess where that smell came from. Aelita was the only one who slept in the bed with me. Fact was, there was literally no more room on the floor. And everyone insisted that she sleep in the bed as well. Plus, I saw that she really wanted to. This girl was really good at comforting people. Maybe she was just good at it naturally cause she was so kind and understanding.

But when I woke up and was able to process the world around me, I saw the promise ring I had put on my finger. The one that Emily gave me back. I gripped my head. What happened was no nightmare, but I very much wish it was because it seemed like one. First XANA gets free of the Supercomputer, regardless of my knowledge of the situation. Then I lose my girlfriend. All highlights of a absolutely shitty day. At least I stopped crying.

I sat up and reached across my bed to put the ring on my table with my computer. I then checked for a XANA attack. Nothing. He was quiet.

I scooted Aelita over a little bit so I could just lay flat on my bed, staring at the ceiling and just wishing to feel nothing right now. Just a few minutes of blissful numbness.

"Feel any better?" Aelita asked suddenly, making me jerk my head to face her.

"A little. Still hurts though," I said, looking back at the ceiling.

"I figured that. Your eyes are really red," Aelita said.

"If you recall, I kept us up past midnight with the occasional sob. Forgive me for that," I said.

"You don't have to apologize. We stayed here for you. Cause we wanted to help you through this. Cause that's what friends do. You've done it for us countless times," Aelita said.

"I try to. I try to keep it together, be the best friend I can be for you all and the best boyfriend I could be for Emily. How long is it before I go two for two?" I asked.

"Cause you don't have to keep Lyoko a secret from us. We understand. And we're not going anywhere. We have our ups and downs, but we are all the best of friends in the end," Aelita said. I smiled slightly.

"Thanks for the reassurance," I said before the smile faded. "I need something to distract myself. Something... anything... just so I don't have to think about what happened."

"You could start hanging with us again. We can find something to do to help you," Aelita suggested, but I shook my head.

"No, I don't want to take up much of your time. I just need a hobby or something. Something constructive that'll keep my mind off things," I said.

"I turn to music when I need something to do. You know I've had fun with it," Aelita suggested.

"For one, I'm not the best singer. Two, who says I'm good at it? And three, that's your thing," I told her.

"One, we can work on that. There is a process to singing. You just have to get it down. Two, you're good at most things you do. Three, who said it has to be just my thing? It's a lot more fun to do it with others. Plus it doesn't just have to be singing. Just do your own little thing. I love it cause it's creative. I feel like I'm talented and skilled," Aelita told me.

"Maybe cause you are," I said evenly. Aelita laughed lightly.

"Thanks. But my point is still out there. I would really have fun if we had music sessions together," she said.

"I'll think about it. In a way, I'm pretty sure it's not a good idea," I said.

"Why's that?" Aelita asked curiously. I shook my head.

"It's nothing," I said.

"We've been through this before," Aelita said with that firm tone in her voice that I was starting to hear more and more. I sighed.

"Apparently, the secret alone wasn't what pushed her to break up with me," I said.

"It wasn't?" Aelita asked.

"No. Once again, I am fucked over by a tape recorder. I half wish they didn't exist," I said.

"You mean she recorded us having a conversation about Lyoko?" Aelita asked.

"No. Thank God. She just got a very specific conversation with us after a XANA attack where we didn't return to the past. Apparently, Herb recorded it and gave it to her," I said.

"Herb did what?!" Odd exclaimed suddenly, waking everyone up. Yumi looked at Odd with an angry look her face. With her hair in her face, she almost looked like The Grudge.

"What the hell are you doing screaming about the place?" she hissed at him. It seems I've infected everyone with the articulate knowledge of cussing. I lost count of how many times I've said or thought that.

"Robert, repeat what you just said. Trust me, I think everyone will enjoy what you just said," Odd said, gesturing towards me. I sighed. I really couldn't keep this hidden. I faced Aelita before talking.

"Apparently, the secret alone wasn't what pushed her to break up with me," I repeated.

"It wasn't?" Aelita repeated.

"No. Once again, I am fucked over by a tape recorder. I half wish they didn't exist."

"You mean she recorded us having a conversation about Lyoko?"

"No. Thank God. She just got a very specific conversation with us after a XANA attack where we didn't return to the past. Apparently, Herb recorded it and gave it to her." I could see that everyone's eyes widened except for Odd's.

"Herb did what?!" Yumi yelled even louder than Odd.

"And you scolded _me_ for being loud," Odd said with a small laugh, but Yumi ignored him.

"Are you serious?" she questioned.

"Yes I am. She didn't say Sissi. She said Herb. I knew he didn't like me, but..." I stopped and opted on blowing out a puff of breath.

"I think we'll have to have a talk with Herb," Ulrich said, looking furious.

"Don't bother getting in trouble on my account," I said, but Odd held a hand out towards me.

"Don't worry. We won't hurt him. Probably. We'll just talk to him first. Hopefully for him, it stays that way," he said.

"In most cases, I wouldn't agree with what you're saying. But this is over the top even for Sissi if she is indeed the one behind this," Jeremy said, reaching for his glasses on my table. I sighed.

"Go ahead if you want. It's not going to make me feel any better right now. Kind of glad summer's almost here. I don't think I could get through school feeling like this," I said, placing a hand on my forehead and starting to rub it.

"We'll be back after we get dressed. You should get dressed as well," Aelita told me.

"Yeah," I said, my voice low and soft. Aelita patted me on the shoulder before getting up and heading out of the door.

"My parents are going to be really upset," Yumi said, standing up.

"You didn't have to stay," I told her.

"Yes I did. I don't regret it," Yumi said. I walked up to her and hugged her. I just felt so emotional right now.

"Thank you," I said. I felt her hands grab my back and pull me closer.

"You're welcome. Just know we're here to help you," Yumi said softly, holding my at distance and looking directly in my eyes. I nodded before she walked out of my room and I closed my door. I walked over to my closet, but out of the corner of my eye, I could see the promise ring lying on my table.

I closed my eyes mournfully before trying to ignore it. I went in my closet and changed into a different pair of clothes. But as I opened the door, I looked back at the promise ring. It was like a ghost that was just sitting on my table. I then walked over to the ring and held it in my hands, just staring at it.

 _"Cut her off. Cut her off,"_ I thought to myself. That was definitely the healthiest thing to do.

I gripped the ring tightly in my hands and felt like I should pawn it. But I couldn't do it. Not right now at least. I decided to put it in my drawer before walking out of my room. First XANA freeing himself from the Supercomputer, and now this. Life is the most unfair thing ever.

A/N: Had this planned out for a while now. Realistically, there's only so many times you can not show up to your dates without telling her what you're doing, where, or who you're doing it with before she starts to get tired of it. Not even the slightest explanation. So that was the birth of this chapter. Yeah. Breakups are a bitch.


	26. Chapter 26 - Farewells

"Focus it. Take your time," I told Yumi.

"This is getting... tough..." she strained out through gritted teeth.

"A few more seconds," I told her. She strained with holding the object with one hand.

"Ok, drop it," I said after a few seconds. With a grunt, the boulder fell to the ground. She held her knees as she looked at the ground. "That was good. Decent progress."

"Tell me again... why am I the only one going through this?" Yumi panted.

"Because you're the only one who has anything to really improve on. Your telekinesis is very useful, but it's not that useful if you can't defend yourself or attack anything while you're doing it. If you get this down, you can fling a Mega Tank with one hand while reflecting lasers with the other," I explained to her.

"Alright, that does sound pretty useful. But I have to say, I _do_ want to be able to enjoy my summer break, you know," Yumi said, putting hands on her hips while looking at me.

"Oh, I know that. And I'll allow you that. We'll just pick up on it every now and again. So let's get back," I said as I drew a sword in each hand and stabbing both of us so that we devirtualized.

I stepped out of the scanner before blowing out a puff of breath and smoothing my hair that refused to stop bunching together in annoying little knots. Some people called it curls. I call it an irritation.

"The others'll be leaving in a few minutes," I said as I checked my watch. I tried not to think about who the watch was from. "We should go say our goodbyes."

"I agree. Maybe I'll let them know how much hell you're going to put me through during this vacation," Yumi said with a smirk. I chuckled a little.

"Trust me, I know how to give you _real_ hell. This is child's play dear," I said with a haughty tone before walking out of the factory with her.

The both of us went to Ulrich and Odd's dorm, walking in on them packing their stuff. Yumi did a type of whistle to get their attention, and the both of us waved casually.

"Oh, hey you two. How'd training go?" Ulrich asked.

"She's getting better at the telekinesis thing," I told him.

"I can barely hold a rock with one hand for thirty seconds," Yumi said dryly.

"I said 'better.' I didn't say 'substantially better.' There's a difference," I said, making the room ring with laughter. Though my own was not included. I couldn't even manage a grin. It felt weird. I sounded serious, which I think is what caused the laughter to cut off as fast as it did.

"Umm... yeah. So our parents should be here in a few minutes. We should head on outside," Ulrich said, somewhat awkwardly. I nodded in agreement as we walked out of the dorm. We made our way to the front of the school where tons of students were saying their goodbyes to their friends and such. I didn't see Emily, which was actually a relief.

"Ulrich!" I looked over where the shout was and saw his parents gesture him over. He then turned to us.

"Make sure to given XANA plenty of kicks up the ass for me while I'm gone," Ulrich said before we clapped hands and pulled in for a bro hug. I smiled a little.

"Wouldn't have it any other way. Though for Christmas, I'm taking your place," I told him with a grin.

"Deal. It'll take a lot of camouflage, but we can make it happen," Ulrich said before waving at the others. "See ya guys."

"Bye," Yumi said with a wave. Odd and Ulrich had a bro hug before he walked off towards his parents, his mother receiving him warmly with a hug. I put my hands in my pockets as I looked at Odd.

"You see your parents yet?" I asked.

"Not yet. But where is Aelita and Jeremy?" Odd said before smirking. "You think they're..."

"If they are, bout damn time," I said before yawning. "Nice to know he's having good luck in the relationship department."

Odd instantly closed his mouth at my sentence and Yumi gave me a sideways glance.

"I mean that. It's..." I sighed in a flat manner. "It's fine. I'll get over it." The looks that Odd and Yumi gave me showed me that they weren't necessarily reassured by my words. I don't blame them. I did spend hours crying my eyes out a few nights ago. I think that got it out for the most part, but there were still some uneasy thoughts.

"Hey!" Jeremy exclaimed, jogging up to us. "Thought you would've told me you were about to leave."

"Sorry. Kind of slipped our minds," I said before rubbing my temples a little. "Where's Aelita?"

"I thought she would've been with you," Jeremy said before pulling out his laptop and checking for towers. My thoughts exactly. "No tower is active. Where is she?"

"There," Yumi suddenly said while pointing. I turned my head to see her wave before walking over to us. That was odd. Not to mention weirdly convenient timing.

"Where were you?" Jeremy asked her.

"The factory. Was working on something," Aelita said simply.

"What?" I asked. I don't remember Aelita ever working on a project by herself. My memory wasn't the greatest, but I think I would've remembered something like that.

"I'll talk about it later. Right now, I think Odd has visitors," Aelita said with a finger pointed in a direction. I turned to the direction her finger was, and there were Odd's parents. I can see where Odd got his unnaturally wide grin from.

"Oh, great," Odd said moodily.

"They're still not finding any of your wrongs, huh?" Jeremy asked.

"Of course not. Makes me wonder if I were to commit a crime would they still not find any fault with me," Odd said.

"They'd probably have to see you do it," I told him with a grin. He grinned back before, just like with Ulrich, we grabbed hands and pulled in for a bro hug.

"You think you can handle XANA without me?" he questioned.

"I'm sure we'll cope," Yumi said with a smirk.

"You get XANA for two months, and I get my parents. Is it bad that I want to trade?" Odd questioned.

"Yes. Yes it is," me, Jeremy, and Aelita said at the same time.

"Just get along with them while you're gone. Trust me. Ride out the pampering that they give you. Enjoy yourself," I told him.

"Have I ever told you that you are the best for pointing out the ups in situations?" Odd said.

"What can I say? I'm-" My grin faded as I looked past Odd's shoulder. Emily was struggling with two of her bags and was waiting near the entrance lot for cars. I could swear my face felt like all the blood had been sucked out of it. "Um... I think... I'll be right back."

With my feet feeling like they were going towards Death Row rather than towards a person, I walked over towards Emily. I was amazed that the others didn't try and stop me. I mean, they would've definitely gotten me to stop if they had just asked me if I really wanted to go over there. One of those situations where if anyone questioned it, I would lose the confidence to do it. Again, I was not that lucky.

"Um, can I help with that?" I asked Emily hesitantly. She stopped in her struggling and looked towards me. Her face seemed to grow a little paler and her eyes fell a little as soon as she laid eyes on me.

"Um... sure. I mean... that is..."

"No, it's fine," I said quickly before grabbing her bags and holding them in one hand.

"Still, uh... still strong I see," Emily said with a nervous smile.

"Yeah. I still keep in shape a little," I said, raising the bags up and down.

"Look, um... I hate to bring up the elephant in this situation, but what are you doing over here?" Emily asked, causing my mood to somehow drop even lower than it already was. And apparently, it showed.

"I mean..." Emily hurriedly said. "It's just..."

"I saw you struggling. Thought I'd come help," I said before sighing. "Yet at the same time, I don't even know why I came over here. I mean that _was_ the reason I came over here initially, but now it just feels like an excuse."

I saw Emily's lips pursue slightly at my sentence, and I immediately knew what was on her mind. Once again, there were moments where I just felt like an absolute shithead. This was one of them.

"I don't know how many times I'll end up saying this, but I would like to say I'm sorry. Again. I put you in the middle of my situation, and expected you to cope with it. That's not right," I told her.

She was silent at my words. I opted for looking down at the ground when I felt her gaze slowly move towards mine. You could seriously feel the awkward. Not to mention the unspoken words that were in the air. It was a situation I couldn't properly cope with.

Then there was a honk that caused the both of us to jump. We looked at the side and saw Emily's parents in a car. Jesus, she was a carbon copy of her mother. That... made me pretty uncomfortable.

"That's your ride," I said with a hesitant grin. I walked over to the car and her parents popped the trunk for me. I put her bags in the car before looking back towards her. I closed the trunk and without a word, my feet shuffled past her. I couldn't bring myself to say another word.

"That was fucking awful," I said as I walked back to join the others. "Then again, what should I have expected? Closure?" I sat down on the steps and put a hand on my forehead. I felt multiple hands touch my shoulders, but I shook them off.

"Just let me have a moment," I said before closing my eyes with my hand still on my forehead.

 _"So we have months, possibly years before XANA dies. Great. I just have to avoid getting into another relationship before then. That shouldn't be very hard. After all, I am me after all,"_ I thought to myself. Again, my mood dropped. Felt like I was on the brink of depression. I wasn't going to trade in eating and sleeping habits. No, I just felt upset a lot. I didn't get this feeling a lot, so I couldn't really tell if it was normal or not.

"Is it normal to feel this upset? I mean, I've cried about it. I've accepted that it happened. Is it still natural that I still feel like shit on the inside?" I said, pounding the palms of my hands on my forehead.

"Don't do that," Aelita said, grabbing my hands and pulling them down.

"And yes. It is normal to be upset after a breakup," Jeremy told me.

"Shit sucks," I said before standing to my feet. "I think, um... I think I'll just lay in my dorm for a few until we go down to Yumi's. Your parents won't be here for another few hours, right?"

"Yeah," Yumi said somewhat hesitantly.

"Then I'll do that. I have all my bags packed already. I'll just... yeah," I said, heading into the building.

* * *

A/N: This was just a short chapter. I'll get more into what I have planned for the summer vacation chapters later on.


	27. Chapter 27 - Nice Moments

"Get up," Aelita told me. I looked from the book I was reading to look up at her.

"I'm reading," I said, going back to my book. I turned the page, and as soon as I did, Aelita slid a comb between the pages and closed it. "What is it?"

"I'm showing you something. Come on. Never before have you just sat around and just read a book," she told me, tossing me my phone. I caught it with one hand and put the book down as I stood up.

"Something wrong with that? I actually do like a decent book," I told her.

"But I think I should worry if you're reading 'The Shadow Land Murders,'" Aelita said, picking up the book and turning it around in her hand.

"It's a murder mystery. It's an interesting genre," I told her. Aelita only shook her head before throwing the book down on my bed.

"Well, I promise you that I'm offering you something more interesting than reading a murder mystery all day," she assured me.

"Given to how I've been reading this all day, I doubt that, but you're welcome to try and prove me wrong," I said as I put some shoes on.

"And prove you wrong I shall. Hopefully." She said the last word under her breath, and I grinned a little.

"Don't be offended. It's a good story," I said as I grabbed the key and followed her out of the door. Was surprised when Yumi's parents had a key copied for the each of us. Wasn't going to argue with it though.

"The suspense is killing me," I said flatly. "Why are you taking me towards the factory?"

"Well, that ruins the destination," Aelita said just as flatly as I did.

"We've run this route about ten thousand times. It would be sad if I _didn't_ know where we were going. What's this about? If it's about XANA..."

"It isn't. Just wait until we get there," Aelita said.

"Fine. I'll try to be patient," I said with a resigned tone. At least I would figure out what she was doing the day we left the school. I knew this was somehow connected to that.

Like I had expected, we ended up at the factory. Aelita was strangely quiet the entire time, but she looked back at me every once in a while. Didn't know what to make of it.

"Alright, so what is this about?" I asked, my hands in my pockets I asked as she lead me over to the Supercomputer.

"I've been working on something for a few days. Specifically, over what we talked about during the morning after... you know," Aelita said, somewhat awkwardly.

"Talking about something to occupy me?" I questioned, making her nod. "How does that pertain to this? I don't want to spend my summer dealing with XANA related stuff."

"No, nothing like that. I'm not Jeremy in that regard. It's something else. Let me show you," Aelita said, sitting in the computer chair. I walked up next to her and looked at the computer screen, which had various files and options. Then I noticed each file had the name of a type of instrument. Electric guitar, piano, drums, etc.

"What's this all about?" I asked.

"For lack of a better term to describe it, this is a music simulator," Aelita said, gesturing towards the screen. "It was an idea I tinkered with in the middle of the school year, but I had more reason to finish it given as to what happened. Give that the Supercomputer is... well, super, it made making this possible."

"And you want me to use this?" I asked. Her lips pursued and I instantly felt awkward about it.

"Well, you don't _have_ to, but again, go back to the conversation we had," Aelita told me.

"The music," I said in a definite tone.

"Yeah. After all, you've told me that your dimension had some good music. Well now, if you want, you have a way to actually make it. Or make your own," Aelita told me.

"I'm not creative enough to do the second one. And even in the case of the first one, I really don't know why I would use it. I mean..."

"I've made a couple of things myself, and it's fun. Even if you don't make your own stuff, you have some things worth making. Trust me. It's fun making music," Aelita told me.

"I'll think about it. Even then, why not make a bigger thing out of this? I'm sure no one has made a program like this. To my knowledge, there was nothing this specific in my dimension either. This could really sell," I told her.

"I don't care about that. Maybe another time, but as of now this is just our thing. I can show you how to work it. I mean, just in case," Aelita said, focusing more on the computer screen.

"Alright, show me. Mostly cause I'm interested as to how you put it together," I told her. I saw her smile a little as she got to demonstrating.

* * *

I rubbed my eyes as I rotated my fork on my food. I can't believe I let Aelita take several hours to teach me how to work a program I was more than likely never going to use. I mean, I definitely liked music, but listening to it. Not making it.

 _"With the kind of stuff you sing to yourself, you sound like you have plenty to give."_ I shook my head at her words as I slowly took a bite of food. My mind was preoccupied, and it showed.

"What are you thinking about?" Aelita suddenly asked me.

"It's nothing," I said, going back to my food silently. Everyone looked at me somewhat curiously, which caused me to sigh. "I'm fine."

"I don't know. You seem more... reserved since you came back from school," Mrs. Ishiyama said.

"Something happened between this girl he was dating. I think they-" Two things interrupted Hiroki in his sentence. Yumi elbowing her brother with force and me cracking the plate by pressing my fork down hard from the unexpected sentence. I blinked before sighing. I didn't even want to know how he found out. I really didn't.

"Ok, now I'm not alright. Next time you want to do me a favor and tell people my business, _don't,"_ I said, fixing the kid with icy eyes. Yumi eyed her brother somewhat reproachfully as he decided to go straight back to his food, but Aelita put a hand on my shoulder. The touch calmed me down somewhat.

"Ok, I'm..."

"It is what it is, alright? Me and my girlfriend broke up. It happens every day to people," I said, cutting off Mrs. Ishiyama and drawing my shoulders in to show how uncomfortable I felt. No one wants to talk about their recent breakup, much less to the parents of their friend. I felt more awkward and irritated more than upset. I hate my luck.

I looked back at my plate and saw that some of the chicken I was eating fell off. I sighed.

"Sorry about the plate. Give me a moment," I said, carrying the cracked plate carefully while trying not to spill much food.

I placed the food that was on the plate on a separate one before throwing the pieces away, wiping my hands with a napkin and throwing that away along with the it. I then grabbed the plate I replaced before walking back towards the kitchen. But Yumi walked through the kitchen door before I did.

"Oh. Um... you..."

"I'm fine. Just ask your family to not bring it up again. I can deal with it as long as it's not brought up again, alright?" I told her, making her nod. I walked back into the kitchen with her and everyone immediately looked at the both of us. I sat down and ignored the looks while going back to my food.

"So, umm..."

"Hiroki," Yumi said in a voice of deadly calm. Her brother instantly silenced. I was thankful for that as I took another bite of food.

Yumi's parents were surprisingly quiet, but their looks said what they wanted to say for them. It looked like they pitied me. It wasn't as bad as some pity, but the looks still made me want to walk out and avoid the stares. But I stayed seated and just ate in silence.

"So... how did school go?" Mrs. Ishiyama suddenly asked. Though the tone was somewhat awkward.

"Good. These two were among some of the smartest in our grade," Yumi said, gesturing to Aelita and me.

"Oh, really? What was your grade point average?" Mrs. Ishiyama asked Aelita.

"Ninety five point two," she said, idly taking a bite of food. Both parents looked at Aelita in a slightly surprised fashion, and I couldn't hold back a small smirk. Aelita was a genius. And she hadn't even fully grasped all of her knowledge yet. I was certain that once she did, she'd get that full one hundred.

"What about you?" Mr. Ishiyama asked me, wiping the smirk from my face and causing me to stare at both parents. I knew I would have to speak clearly, or it would probably come out in a mumble.

"Ninety nine point ninety out of a hundred," I said in the same toneless fashion that Jeremy told that one reporter. TV, or something like that.

"Are you-"

"Ask my teachers if you want. It's barely higher than Jeremy's. Only by point three," I said, taking another bite of food. Yumi's parents looked between me and Aelita for a few seconds before their gaze went towards their daughter.

"And you Yumi?" Mr. Ishiyama asked with a raised brow.

"Eighty one point seven. I'm still above ground by the waist up. These two haven't even sink a centimeter," Yumi said, gesturing her thumb between me and Aelita.

"You two are some gifted siblings," Mrs. Ishiyama said with a warm smile. The smile broke some of my icy demeanor and I actually smiled.

"Thank you," Aelita said just as warmly. "We try."

"So... any ideas as to what you want to do? With grades like that, you could go anywhere. Be anything," Mr. Ishiyama questioned.

The question actually caused me to lower my fork while staring at the table with a small frown on my face, yet my eyes full of a pondering expression. I truly hadn't thought about that.

When I was growing up, the idea of designing video games had been very appealing to me. Now, I could still do it, but there were limits in this universe compared to mine. I'm not sure if it would be as fun as I thought it would be considering capabilities were more limited. So what would I do? It was definitely something I was going to have to give some thought when it came down to junior and senior year. Not only did we have XANA, but we had the real world to deal with as well.

"I don't know," I said honestly. "I haven't really thought about it. I mean, I know there's so much I _can_ do, but there's a matter of doing what I _want_ to do with my life."

"Knowing what you want to do with your life is important. There's no rush in your current situation. You have time to think about it. But there is much potential in you and your sister," Mr. Ishiyama said, straightening his glasses. "In my opinion... This is only my opinion, but I would recommend you do not dwell on looking for another relationship."

"Wasn't planning it any time soon, but explain what you mean more," I asked.

"The way that you support yourself and another person go hand in hand for a healthy relationship. You will mostly likely meet your future partner in college or during something work related. Most high school relationships do not make it. Become successful then find your partner so that you grow more mature and more mindful to what it takes to keep a relationship together," he explained to me.

I looked at the man with my eyes slightly wide. There was a strange feeling I got from him. That feeling of wisdom; experience. Then again, he had probably been in my situation years ago. What he said definitely had merit. High school was an opportunity to enjoy your youth and figure out what you wanted to do with your life. And that is exactly what I would do.

"Thanks for the advice. It's definitely something to keep in mind," I said with a respectful nod. Suddenly, I had the bitter afterthought that it should've been my own father telling me this. Who the hell would I have called on for advice if I hadn't been sent here? My mother was there, but sometimes it just wasn't enough. There were some things that she couldn't tell me; things that she herself wouldn't understand. Things you needed a father to tell you.

I shook away the thoughts as I busied myself with taking another bite of food to dispel the thoughts. I hated retreating into self wallowing. It was pathetic and very, very pointless.

"So Aelita..." Mrs. Ishiyama asked as I was finally brought back to the present. They didn't seem to notice my detachment from the world around me as I journeyed into my thoughts. "...what about you? Any ideas as to what you want to do?"

"I've briefly pondered the thought of a scientist, but the idea of a music career interests me more," Aelita said before stealing a piece of food from my plate. I stole it back with a grin before eating the piece she stole. I also understood it was a subtle hint for me to think about what she said.

"Music? So what is it you're good at?" Singing? Dancing? Composing?" Mrs. Ishiyama asked.

"D. All of the above," I said idly as I took a drink of water.

"He's not wrong. She is really good at it," Yumi told her parents. Aelita's cheeks turned slightly red, and I playfully nudged her side.

"Talented academically and musically. Scholarships go for a fair bit of money. Between music and academics, you could make a lot of money. Enough to supply your academic goals as well as have some extra money in your pocket. Never hurts to have a back up plan," Mrs. Ishiyama told her.

"It is definitely worth thinking about. We have to make sure things go smoothly on our way to our last year though," Aelita said.

"You two are doing exceptionally well as of now. I would recommend staying consistent now and have it pay off later. You both have a large and developed mind. Use it and become successful. You both have options to become anything you desire. All it takes is the work," Mr. Ishiyama said.

"Thanks for the advice. The both of you," I said with smile in their directions.

"You're welcome. Happy to help. Yumi, this goes for you too. You are doing well in your classes, and while you may not have as many options as these two, you still have plenty of paths to take. Figure out what you want to do, focus on it, and achieve it," Mr. Ishiyama said, his eyes locked on his daughter.

"I will," Yumi told her father with pure determination in her tone. He smiled at his daughter.

Moments like this reminded you that the random parents you see on a TV show were just that. Parents. People who had been in their children's situation and wanted to help them succeed. In some twisted way, they probably looked up on us as their children. In retrospect, we kinda were. After, they were taking care of him and Aelita as of now. They could never know why we were really here. Both of our cases were extremely unbelievable and above all, dangerous to Yumi if they figured out what she was doing on those late nights. No, it best to keep it under wraps. Forever. XANA would take months, probably a year or two to bring down. Hopefully me being here wouldn't drag the fight on longer than it was supposed to. I still had shaky faith about that. But this... this was a nice moment.


	28. Chapter 28 - Music, Jobs, and Careers

My eyes roamed the paper with my right leg crossed over my left in a relaxed posture. It was very out of place for a fourteen year old to be reading the newspaper as if he was actually interested in what was in it, but then again, I actually _was_ interested in what was in it. Well, that is if it had what I was looking for.

"You look like a man looking for a job," Mrs. Ishiyama suddenly said from the kitchen. I looked up and she was standing in the doorway. Whatever she was cooking was making stream rise from a pot.

"I am, in fact. At least for the summer," I said, my eyes going back to the paper.

"Don't kids your age try to enjoy their summer?" Mrs. Ishiyama asked.

"Yes. But one, work gets me money I can't earn just 'enjoying the summer.' Two, it'll keep me busy," I said, still looking over the paper.

"You are definitely an influence that Hiroki could use," Mrs. Ishiyama said with a smile.

"Don't be so sure," I said even though a small smile made its way onto my face. "I'm still a little rough around the edges."

"You wouldn't be a teenager if you weren't," Mr. Ishiyama said, walking in the door. "Now what's this all about?"

"Looking for a summer job," I said, raising the paper.

"During your summer? That's certainly not very common," Mr. Ishiyama said.

"It's not, but I'm not common myself," I said, placing the paper down. "I saw a few places that hire people my age. I'll go take a look and see if they'll hire me."

"If you work as hard physically as you do in school, then it'll just be a matter of picking which place you'd rather work for," Mrs. Ishiyama said, making me smile.

"Thanks. I'll be back in a few hours at the most. If Aelita or Yumi ask, just relay the info to them," I said before heading out of the door.

Personally, I had no plans of finding a job for the summer. It's kind of something that just happened. It's not like the idea of making some extra money isn't good. I don't know exactly what I'll do with it considering... I'll find some uses.

On the way to the first location that I had in mind, I passed the factory. I glanced at it before thinking about what was still there. What Aelita told me was on the computer. I shook my head. Nah, there was no point. Right?

 _"It wouldn't hurt to just play with it. Just for a few minutes,"_ I thought before nodding and heading towards the factory. It felt so weird to be in here without there being a XANA attack or Jeremy discussing something with us. It just felt strange in ways that I couldn't explain.

I sat at the computer and pulled up that program Aelita showed me. I knew how to use it, as she had spent hours showing me how. I don't know why I paid attention, but I did. But as I thought about it, maybe it wouldn't actually be that bad to make something. Though it's just the matter making it that's the problem. There were dozens of instruments and millions of combinations. Easy to figure out right? For someone who knew what term for the instrument meant maybe...

I sat there with one hand on my cheek and using one hand to try to place different combinations together. I had even ended up losing track of time. This was a rather intricate program Aelita made. How long did it even take her to make this? It was a little _too_ precise.

I felt my phone vibrate and when I glanced at it, it was a text from Aelita saying "good luck." I wondered what she meant by that, but then I remembered I was supposed to be looking for a job. That made me immediately stand up from the chair, but I did end up saving what little progress I made. I managed to make the first three seconds of the Asylum song. Hey, it was something.

* * *

"How'd the interviews go?" Aelita asked me as soon as I walked.

"Can I sit first?" I questioned with a teasing smirk.

"No!" Aelita said in a fake indignant tone of voice that was proven fake from the mirth that was shining in her eyes.

"I'm doing it regardless. Anyway, I did in fact get a job," I said.

"As if I'm surprised. Where?" Aelita asked.

"The convenience store near the factory. Figured it was an opportune place just in case XANA decides to rear his head," I said in a small whisper in case any of the Ishiyamas were near.

"Relax. We're by ourselves. They went shopping," Aelita said easily, making me snort.

"How'd Yumi take that?" I questioned. Yumi was one of the few girls who was not one for shopping. To be honest, it wasn't all that surprising.

"She said she'd rather clean the house than going shopping," Aelita said, making me laugh.

"Oh, my goodness. What'd her parents say?" I asked.

"Mrs. Ishiyama said she would take Yumi up on that offer after they got back," Aelita said, the both of us laughing right after. "Anyway, so when do you start?"

"Tomorrow at ten am. Working a ten hour shift Monday through Thursday. There's no uniform. I just have to dress like I'm not a bum," I said.

"So you need me to help you dress?" Aelita asked with a smirk. I walked over to and put a hand on the chair, using my height to tower over her while pressing my index finger and thumb together on my right hand.

"Keep talking. I will thump you," I said, my eyebrows furrowed as I looked down on her.

"What I meant to say was that you would look not bum-like even if you wore a trash bag," Aelita said, making me smirk and go back to my seat.

"That's what I thought," I said.

"Bum," Aelita said right after I said that. I grinned in my seat while shaking my head.

"Ok, you do know you've been watching my teasing too much, right?" I questioned.

"There's nothing wrong with taking a few notes," Aelita said innocently. Too innocently. Even for her.

"Forget notes. You copy and pasted my technique. Well, one of them at least," I told her.

"Why come up with your own thing when you can just use someone else's?" Aelita asked.

"You know you just listed Odd's logic for homework, right?" I questioned, making her giggle.

"Why is it sad that I can believe that?" she questioned.

"Because Odd hates homework. To be honest, if could get someone else to do my homework, I would. I can do it, but I'd rather not waste the time _of_ doing it, you know?" I questioned.

"I get what you mean. But enough of school. We're done with that for two months. You thought about what I said about that program?" Aelita asked.

"Yes," I said evenly.

"And..." Aelita trailed.

"I'm still thinking about whether or not I want to make it a thing," I told her.

"You should. I'm telling you. You won't regret it," Aelita said.

"The only thing I would regret if I were to take that on was for it to be a complete waste of time," I told her.

"But it wouldn't be. You'd have something to make. Or, you know, for me to use," Aelita said innocuously.

"You do know that that is a very horrible subtle way to tell me you want me to write songs for you?" I questioned.

"You wouldn't be writing them, per se. Just copying and pasting them from your head," Aelita said with a smirk. I did not miss the joke.

"Lazy," I said with a smirk.

"And you wonder why I use your methods," Aelita asked.

"No, I'm still wondering. I would hope that you would be smart enough not to adapt to my strange methods," I told her, making her shrug.

"Maybe I'm not as smart as you think," Aelita said, making me smirk.

"Well, you said it, not me," I said, making her get up from her seat and whack me upside the head. Didn't stop me from laughing my head off. "Hey, you fell for it!"

"Doesn't make it right? I oughta..."

"You oughta what?" I challenged.

"You sir, have just signed your warrant for me to use authorized use of The Tickle Torture," Aelita said, referring to that time in the hospital a few weeks ago.

"You do realize this is a declaration of war princess. You attack me, I will not hold back," I said in my cheesy knight. Well, I wouldn't say cheesy. More like cliche.

"Counting on it knave," Aelita said, instantly moving in for an attack. Dozens of attacks by XANA made me fast enough to close my armpits before she could go for them. She immediately switched tactics and went for my stomach.

"Let the war begin," I said before lifting her up and putting her on the ground. I lifted one of her arms and used my other unoccupied hand to tickle that armpit. She laughed, but took the opportunity tickle my vulnerable. I.E., the arm that was used to make her armpit vulnerable. She was laughing outright; my face was twitching in an attempt not to.

"Will you yield?" I questioned.

"I-I will not," she said through laughs. I had to fight the urge to laugh. I was obviously less ticklish than she was. Then again, that might have been the armpit hair protecting me ever so slightly.

"What a senseless standoff," I said before moving the arm that was holding her other one up and starting trickling my fingers along her arm. She started laughing outright.

"One second! Time out!" Aelita said, causing me to stop. "How in the world is my arm ticklish?"

"Everyone has weird ticklish spots," I told her.

"What's yours?" Aelita asked, making me raise an eyebrow before grinning.

"My feet," I said, causing her to look at my shoes before looking back up at me.

"I surrender," Aelita said, making me laugh. "Curse you for having shoes on. This isn't a fair fight."

"Not many people like to get themselves into a fair fight. They want to get into one where they have the advantage," I said, helping Aelita to her feet. "Besides, when it comes to XANA, we've been at a disadvantage most of the time whether we want to admit it or not."

"That's unfortunately true. It doesn't help that he managed to get out of the Supercomputer," Aelita said.

"No matter how hard I tried to prevent it," I said, looking at the ground sadly.

"There was nothing you could do," Aelita assured me.

"I can't help but feel that there was. Deep down, I know you're right, but some part of me doesn't want to admit it," I said.

"There are plenty of terms to describe this, but whatever. There wasn't a damn thing you could've done," Aelita said, my eyes widening at how the words seemed to come out in a type of growl. But then her voice normalized. "He knew you were prepared for what he initially planned to do and adapted off of it. XANA wouldn't be as smart as we know he is if he just sat around and did nothing."

"If you cuss like that more often, you're going to turn into me," I said idly, making her grin.

"Well, who do you think my influence is? Regardless of your very rough around the edges language and your periods of self-loathing, you're a good person to take influence from. You work hard, you're smart..."

"Wasn't really any of those before I came here," I told her.

"But you are now. You took a situation that you weren't prepared for and learned to adapt to it. Do you think most other people were brave enough to stay involved with XANA like you did? They probably would've taken the de-virtualization and done their best to avoid getting caught in the path of this maniacal AI. Or told someone with authority. But no. Above all odds, you joined us. You helped as best as you could. Forget Tickle Torture. Tell me that you could've done more again, and I will punch you," Aelita explained in a stern voice. Judging by the way her fists were balled and the stare she was fixing me with, I didn't think she was bluffing for a second.

"I think I'm starting to see your point," I said, making Aelita smile a little.

"Well, good. I know how thick your skull is. Even XANA hasn't been able to break it open yet," she said, making me laugh.

"Well, you know I have a skull like my stomach," I said.

"So indestructible and bottomless?" Aelita questioned rhetorically.

"Don't make me go for your arms again," I said with a grin. "I was gonna say like cast iron cause I can eat just about anything and not get sick, but that is just going a little too far."

"Not really Mr. Five and a Half Pizzas," Aelita said, making me fix her with a stern stare before I shook my head.

"I suddenly wish Emily didn't tell that story," I said, not making eye contact with her. There was that pang I felt again. Stupid feelings.

"I didn't mean to bring it back up..."

"No, it's... it's fine," I said, finally looking back up at her. "Just... just still stings a little, you know? To think about what happened."

"I'm having words with Sissy when we get back to school," Aelita said. What made me raise my eyebrows was the slight darkness of her tone. Very, very slight, but there.

"Ok, you've _definitely_ been hanging around me too much. You plan on hurting her?" I questioned.

"What? No. That definitely would prove no point. Plus I'm not the best fighter. No, I actually am going to talk to her. How long that conversation stay civil however..." Aelita trailed.

"I could teach you," I told her. "You know, how to fight."

"How about this. Spend a little time with the program and I'll think about it," Aelita said with a smirk. I gently bit on my tongue before eyeing her.

"I did," I said, making her raise her eyebrows up.

"Seriously?" Aelita asked, making me nod. "When?"

"Before I went to those job interviews. As much as I loathe to admit it, I probably wouldn't have gotten up if you hadn't sent me that good luck text and reminded what I was supposed to be doing," I told her, making her groan.

"I regret sending it now," Aelita said, making me grin. "So... what'd you think?"

"I got three seconds of a particular song done. Not much, but it's a start," I told her.

"It takes a good bit to figure stuff out with that program, so even three seconds is pretty good. I was very, very thorough when I made the program," Aelita said.

"How long have you been working on it anyway?" I asked.

"The day after the first time I was on a mixing board," Aelita said, making my eyes widen. That was months ago. "I had the unfinished program sitting there for a good bit. At first I never thought I had a reason to finish it. That it was stupid and pointless to do so, but given recent events, I decided to finish it."

"Stupid and pointless? That program is amazing. Why would you ever think something like that would ever be either of those things?" I questioned.

Aelita opened her mouth as if she was about to answer, but she snapped it shut almost immediately. Whatever the reasoning behind her decision, she was not willing to say.

"Let me tell you something," I said, causing her eyes to snap to me. "You're smart enough to know what you want to do. Nothing, I repeat, _nothing_ you could possibly want do would ever be qualified as stupid or pointless. Cause I don't see you ever wanting to be a criminal or anything like that. If you want to do it, _do it._ If you want something, go after it. Work for it. Chase it. Do whatever it takes for you get what you want to get."

I didn't even notice that I had stood to my feet during my speech. Or the fact that it felt like my eyes were burning as I stared at her. But whatever stare I was fixing her with worked as I definitely had her attention.

"There's that good influence again," Aelita said with a smile.

"I'm just calling it like I see it. Go for what you want to go for. If you want to be to a janitor, go for it. If you want to be a rocket scientist, go for it. If you want to be a singer, go for it. You're smart enough to have an academic field and you're more than talented enough to go for a musical career. Whichever you feel you want to do," I told her.

"I'll do that," Aelita assured me, making me nod. "So, what were you making? Song wise, of course."

"Asylum, by the band Disturbed. Was the very first song I ever heard from this band. It lead into a love for the band's music ever since," I told her.

"That sounds like a perfect song to start with. What's the style of music?" Aelita asked.

"It's a sort of heavy metal song, but the thing I love about Disturbed is that not only do the songs have awesome beats and guitar solos and the like, but the songs have actual _meaning._ There's an actual message to say. I can't say that about all songs and all music creators who seem to wrap about the same thing with different words and a different tune," I explained to her.

"You seem upset about it," Aelita said.

"I'm more tired than anything. A lot of songs just feel like the same thing with a different filter over it. Not gonna lie. I've listened to a few of them, but still. I prefer songs that actually seem original," I said as the door opened. I turned and the entire Ishiyama family walked in. I smiled and waved at them.

"Hey everyone," I said brightly.

"I see you're back. Have you had any luck?" Mrs. Ishiyama asked.

"Working at the convenience store. I work ten hour shifts Monday through Thursday," I told them.

"Well, at least you're putting your free time into something productive," Mr. Ishiyama said.

"Doesn't hurt to make some money while I'm not in school," I told him.

"I don't understand why anyone would work during their summer," Hiroki said.

"Cause money. I wouldn't waste time doing something if I wasn't getting something out of it. Trust me, you'll understand as you get older," I said, trying to restrain the urge to smirk. By the looks of things, so was Aelita. But Yumi wasn't even bothering to hold back a smirk.

"You sound like my parents," Hiroki said, frowning at me. Mrs. Ishiyama put a hand on her son's shoulder, but I turned my eyes to Yumi and smirked. By the mirth in her eyes, she knew that I said that on purpose. At least I felt at ease.


	29. Chapter 29 - Her Reasoning

A/N: Made a minor mistake. Did not know that their summer lasted for only two weeks instead of two months. Was thinking of traditional summers. Eh, bear with me here. Also, gonna add a little bit of my own exposition at the end. If you're curious about what was the deal with Ulrich and Yumi, I'd recommend paying attention. It's just an idea I have.

Episode References: Straight to Heart

* * *

Sitting down at the computer, my eyes were glued on the notepad I had sitting on my lap. My fingers were moving rapidly without any faltering as I wrote the words down. I don't know why, but I preferred to write stuff down as opposed to save it in a document file. Didn't know why.

My body was still a little exhausted after getting off work. It was my last day since the summer was reaching an end, and unless my eyes were deceiving me, which I knew they weren't, I could see a little extra on my paycheck. I essentially got paid seven bucks an hour, and since I worked the entire four days, I got two hundred and eighty bucks for a week. But I could see a thirty percent bonus in there that made me raise an eyebrow. Throughout the entirety of working, I was never overpaid. So this must've been deliberate.

 _"Huh. I'm definitely not complaining. I'll take the extra cash,"_ I thought to myself before I went back to writing. Then my phone immediately vibrated, causing me to pull it out in exasperation. It was a text from Aelita.

 _"All meeting up at the factory. Head there once you get off work."_ I immediately started writing back and said that I was already here. I then immediately got out of the chair and closed out the music program before sitting on the ground to write.

"There's the hard worker!" Yumi exclaimed as she, Aelita, and Jeremy walked in the door. I closed the pad with a grin on my face.

"Well, today was my last day, so officially, I'm not a hard worker as of now," I said, putting my hands on my chest in a type of modest fashion.

"Oh, come off it. You even stayed late some days. That's hard work," Aelita said.

"How much money did you come by?" Jeremy asked.

"Do the math. Ten hour shifts Monday through Thursday for the entire summer while earning seven dollars per hour," I said. Jeremy's eyes then looked up towards the ceiling as he did the math in his head. It was an interesting look that he would get on his face when he was really thinking about something.

"Five hundred and sixty dollars, give or take," Jeremy calculated.

"Sounds about right. Plus there's the small bonus that I was given, which added up to an extra eighty four bucks. I got a fair bit of money saved up," I said, smiling at the thought of having some funds in case I need them. Yumi whistled.

"Nice. What do you plan on using the money for?" she asked.

"Well, for now I'm saving it. Never know when something might come up and I have the money for it. Plus there's the few dollars I have saved up already," I said.

"That's smart," Jeremy complimented.

"Why thank you. When are Odd and Ulrich supposed to get here?" I asked.

"Odd's just getting his stuff together, and Ulrich's plane just landed. They plan on travelling together," Jeremy said.

"Good. Saves us the trouble of having to wait on one at a time," I said before stretching out on the spot I was sitting at. Then Yumi picked up the notepad I was writing in.

"What's this?" she asked. I grabbed it from her and eyed her with a teasing smirk.

"It's a notepad dear," I said, making her roll her eyes.

"I know that. I mean what's in the notepad?" Yumi asked.

"Just a few thoughts," I said idly.

"So what, like a diary?" Yumi asked.

"Sort of. Only it's ideas, not thoughts. Maybe I'll show what's in it. I dunno. For now, it's kind of just... here," I said, making Yumi nod. Aelita eyed me and I turned away. Pretty much she was the only one who knew who what was actually in the notebook. Lyrics to the songs I had, well... at least planned on making. Few of them are actually finished that I got done. But soon enough, I was going to run out of paper to write with. Maybe I _was_ going to have to put this stuff on my computer. That or kill a ton of trees, because with the amount of songs in my head, memorized from front to back, I would probably end up killing a forest.

 _"Aelita, I blame you for this,"_ I thought before speaking out loud. "So what's with the Chinese Checker board?"

"I'm going to show Aelita how to play today," Yumi said, brandishing the container in front of me. She smiled at me and I nodded.

"Fair enough. Meanwhile, you got something to tell us?" I asked Jeremy, making sure to keep the notepad in my grasp.

"Yes, but I'll wait until everyone is here to reveal it," Jeremy said.

"Can't believe XANA actually let us have the summer off," I said, putting my hands behind my head.

"I wouldn't believe it's for our benefit," Jeremy said.

"Of course not. Probably preparing the Scyphozoa or whatever. But at least I was able to actually able to do something formal without having to deal with a XANA attack interrupting," I said.

"You're just saying that just because you were able to make money in peace," Aelita said with a knowing smirk, making me grin.

"Oh, you know me so well princess. Even then, the break in general was nice," I said.

"You're telling me. You know what it's like for my parents to be surprised that I actually stayed where I said I was going to stay?" Yumi questioned.

"I'm sure it was something heart attack worthy, given how things went last year. But that's the kind of life I enjoy. Yet at the same time, nothing beats getting on Lyoko and stabbing some monsters," I said, tracing my thumb across my throat as if I were a cutthroat. Right as I did that, the elevator activated, and Odd and Ulrich both walked in.

"Hey! There are the people of the hour!" I said, putting the notebook down and getting up to hug the two of them. "Good to see you two again."

"Likewise," Ulrich said with a smile.

"So, you did miss me," Odd said with a teasing smirk.

"Yes, I did. Don't make me regret my feelings though," I said with a grin as I backed up. Ulrich and Odd then looked at the others.

"Yumi. Jeremy. Princess," they said at the same time in formal tones.

"You rehearsed that, didn't you?" I questioned.

"Yup," Ulrich said proudly, making the rest of us roll our eyes.

"Figures. Anyway, Jeremy, what did you want to tell all of us?" I asked.

"Well, it's more or less what I want to show you. Thanks to you, we already know he has plans to use Aelita to destroy all of the sectors. Luckily, I almost have the virtualization code for Sector Five done. Now there's just the matter of reprogramming the Supercomputer to find him," Jeremy said, halting in his typing with a final flourish.

"Well, while we wait for that, we can just go get our schedules. And eat. I'm starving," I said, stretching my arms.

"There's a surprise," Aelita muttered, making me nudge her playfully. She simply giggled while I rolled my eyes.

"You know that's the one thing you and Odd can agree on when it comes down to it. Food," Ulrich said. Me and Odd looked at each other before looking at the others.

"You're not wrong," we said at the same time. All of us laughed at the same time and I put an arm on the shoulders of both Aelita and Ulrich as we walked out. Even though we haven't all been together in like, two weeks, it still feels like old times.

* * *

"What do you think Odd meant about 'going for broke' when we talked to him?" Aelita asked.

"Most likely come up with some harebrained scheme to get into our classes," I said as I grabbed the tray the lunch lady handed to me.

"That sounds about right," Aelita said as she grabbed a tray of her own and we sat down. I took a bite of the food and while I didn't grimace and the food was fairly decent, I still felt someone spoiled about it.

"Ah, cafeteria food. Makes me miss Mrs. Ishiyama's cooking," I said, looking at my tray sideways.

"I second that notion," Aelita said as she took a bite of her own.

"Anyway, have any of you heard anything new?" I asked.

"Well, Jim's starting up a basketball team. Apparently, he used to play pro ball..." Ulrich trailed, causing all of us to look at each other knowingly.

"...but he'd rather not talk about it," the rest of us finished. The whole table burst into laughter and I tried to stop myself from pounding the table. The amount of his 'I'd rather not talk about it' stories were astronomical. Never got old.

"Hello!" a familiar and somewhat unwelcome voice said right next to us. Me and Yumi groaned as a collective unit, but Aelita didn't give off any sign of exasperation. Mainly because Hiroki didn't prod her all summer. If she did, she would've shared me and Yumi's exasperation.

"Ugh. Hiroki, what do you want?" Yumi questioned.

"To annoy us. What else would he want? That's pretty much all he does," I questioned as I stabbed my food.

"You do know that I can hear you," Hiroki said somewhat indignantly.

"You were supposed to," Aelita said calmly before I could even open my mouth.

"It's crazy how much she knows me. Anyway, I say that because don't think I didn't catch you sneaking in my money, you little twerp," I said, pointing my fork at him as if it were a lance. "Your parents taking care of me is the only reason I didn't tear strips out of your hide."

"Well, you weren't using it. Plus you had a lot of it," Hiroki said as if that was a viable excuse.

"There's a little something called saving your money. Older people do it because they know there might be a day where something awesome comes up and they want to spend their money on that. But you won't know anything about that anytime soon, so please leave," I said, going back to my food.

"Please, just chill out. I just wanted to introduce my new pal, Johnny," Hiroki said, the kid in question giving Yumi a nervous wave.

"Hello," Yumi said.

"Goodbye," I finished.

"Apparently Aelita isn't the only one who knows people," Yumi said, making me have to hold back a smirk.

"Be nice to me, or I'll rat on you when you come home late!" Hiroki threatened.

"You do that, and I'll inform your parents that you were caught stealing. Do I have to take back my kind gesture?" I questioned with an icy tone, causing to Hiroki to walk away with his friend. "That's what I thought."

"You certainly have an interesting way with him," Aelita said.

"Only two weeks with the kid, and I already feel like he's my annoying brother even though we weren't even born in the same dimension," I said.

"It seems you know my pain," Yumi said.

"Yup," I said, popping the p.

"You two are being overdramatic," Aelita said.

"Easy for you to see. He didn't bother you,' Yumi said, pointing a finger at her.

"Everyone likes me," Aelita said with a smile.

"That's definitely a true statement," Jeremy said with a smile. Aelita's cheeks took on a slight pink tinge as she smiled back at him. Under normal circumstances, I would grin at the sight. Now I felt a slight impatience at watching the two beat around the bush. What were they waiting for? Not like I haven't pushed the both of them.

"Anyways, Jeremy, I want to know when that scan finishes," I told him.

"I'll bring out the laptop now," he said.

"Good. We find XANA, I wanna-" I cut myself off as I stared who had just walked in the door. Emily and her friend Christa. Suddenly all the moisture in my tongue disappeared. "Shit."

"Just keep your head down," Aelita told me, putting a hand on my arm.

I nodded and tried to focus on what little food I had left with an unnecessary amount of intensity. I wish I had the feelings of distaste and resentment every time I looked at my ex like you're "supposed" to, but I didn't get either of those feelings. I just felt guilty for doing what I did. I mean, I know I had responsibilities and that came first, so entering a relationship was the stupidest thing I could done. Then again, I don't think I had the heart to tell her no on Valentine's Day.

I heard a loud beep, and my attention was immediately peaked. Looking at the computer screen, I didn't have to think twice as to what that meant.

"XANA," I said.

"Got him," Jeremy said with a smile before standing up. "I'm off to the factory. Gotta find out more."

"I'm coming with. Anywhere's better than here as of now," I said, quickly standing up.

"Me as well," Aelita said, standing up.

As I walked out, I couldn't help but get the strange feeling that someone was watching me. I turned around, and it wasn't Ulrich or Yumi, and when I looked around the cafeteria, no one was staring. My gaze lingered on Emily for a second longer before I tore it away and continued forward. I knew I had to cut her off. That was the best thing for me to do. My emotions strings would not be very good while we're dealing with XANA. It would just distract me, and that was what he wanted. Couldn't let him do that. Then again, he was succeeding pretty damn well.

"You alright?" Aelita asked me. Jeremy looked over at me at Aelita's inquiry, and I knew I would have to give them some type of answer.

"I don't know. It's just... weird. I just feel guilty as to what happened," I said as I pressed the elevator button with a little more force than necessary.

"You shouldn't," Aelita told me.

"I know," I said softly. "But I can't help but retreat into self loathing sometimes. Like, maybe I could've avoided all of this if I had just said no. If I could avoided all of the problems of keeping XANA a secret from her if had just said no."

I tightened the grip in my right hand. I knew I couldn't have said no if I tried. Some part of me was desperate for that little bit of care; of attention. Made me feel at least somewhat desirable as a male. Whether it was deliberate selfishness, or some feeling of need that overtook me, I don't think I could've stopped what happened that day.

Neither Aelita nor Jeremy got a chance to answer, because as soon as the elevator stopped, I got off and started heading towards the Supercomputer. Like Jeremy's laptop, it was beeping with the same amount of frequency and urgency. Then my brows furrowed at the sight of the monster presence piling in Sector Five.

"That doesn't look good," I said, not taking my eyes off the screen.

"Yeah. XANA's sending all of his monsters to Sector Five," Jeremy said, sitting in the chair.

"There's only the matter of figuring out what he's doing there," I said, putting two fingers under my chin in thought. "Transfer me there. I wanna get a closer look."

"I'll come with," Aelita said. I nodded and I immediately began heading towards the scanner room. The fire was kinda lit in my veins after XANA making an appearance after all this time. More than usual, I felt the urge to destroy some monsters.

"Ah, I never thought I would miss this as much as I do," I said, flexing the fingers in my hands once I was virtualized.

"I don't miss it, that's for sure," Aelita said.

"I don't share your sentiments, but you're welcome to disagree," I said, cracking my neck. I could also feel some energy tingling in my hands. "We should probably wait for the others."

 _"Already called them,"_ Jeremy said. _"They're on their way."_

"Good. The more help we get, the better," I said before going to my back. Only to find my swords weren't there. "What?"

"What's wrong?" Aelita asked, looking at me and then noticing the absence of my swords. "Oh, isn't that just great."

"My words exactly. Now my odds of dealing with monsters are considerably lower," I said, falling on my back and looking up at the endless void of the polar region. "Well, I guess..."

"Wait, something's on your waist," Aelita said. I lowered my gaze to where I was looking around my waist, and I immediately recognized what the items were. And regardless as to how I felt about any of the previous situations, I smiled.

"Well, I think this is an awesome replacement," I said as I summoned the lightsabers to my hand and activated them. One white, one black. "Wonder why it didn't do this in the first place. I prefer this over swords."

"Cause you're such a nerd on the subject," Aelita said, making me grin.

"Stop stealing my words," I said. She laughed shortly, and I twirled the sabers in a style similar to General Grievous before deactivating them. "God, that feels so good."

"You just like showing off," Aelita said.

"That too. Though I must say, this is..."

 _"Others are coming your way,"_ Jeremy suddenly said, catching me completely off guard. But I looked up and indeed saw Yumi and Ulrich were being virtualized. But not Odd.

"Where's Odd?" I asked.

"I guess he'll be here in a moment," Ulrich said.

"We'll wait for him. And apparently, I got new weapons," I said, holding up the lightsabers.

"That doesn't really happen," Ulrich said, his eyebrows slightly raised.

"If Odd can get a shield out of nowhere, as a Star Wars fan, I deserve lightsabers dammit," I said with a grin.

"If you say so," Yumi said dryly.

"Well, way to kill my vibe," I said, putting my lightsabers back on my waist.

"It's not much of one," Yumi said, making me frown. She seemed moody.

"Well, if it helps, I think they're cool," Aelita said.

"Me too," Ulrich said.

"Thanks you two," I said with a smile. I then put a hand on Yumi's shoulder before whispering in her ear. "Troubles with Ulrich?"

She suddenly turned and glared in my direction, but I only raised an eyebrow. She was obviously upset about something. Hmm...

 _"Odd's heading your way,"_ Jeremy said, causing us all to look towards the sky. Jeremy had the weirdest timing. Like, ever. Mostly when there was some exposition that we couldn't finish. But there was no time for that as Odd fell down from the air and we clapped hands.

"Glad you could join us," I said, releasing his hand.

"Just had something to do. I think you'll be seeing me in class real soon," Odd said, making me raise an eyebrow. This I had to hear.

"Knight?" Aelita questioned with a smile, making me immediately turn towards her with a wide grin. I got down on one knee while facing away from her so she could climb onto my back.

"Milady," I said, my knight voice in full effect.

"Is that never going to get old for you two?" Ulrich asked with a smile.

"Never," we said at the same time before I immediately ran off. But I wanted to keep up with Odd so I could question him.

"So, what was that you were saying about being able to be in our class?" I asked.

"Oh, yeah. I decided to blackmail Jim," Odd said casually, making me raise my eyebrows.

"Blackmail Jim? With what?" Aelita asked.

"I have a secret he'd rather not talk about," Odd said, making me grin. "And he doesn't want anyone else to talk about either."

"I personally think blackmail is lame," Ulrich said.

"Since when did you get all high and mighty?" Odd asked.

"Since he's been blackmailed multiple times by Sissi of course," I said.

"Right on target," Ulrich said.

"I don't have a problem with it, since it's getting Odd back in our class," I said.

"Why thank you Einstein number two. Glad you feel that way," Odd said with a smile.

"I'm not the biggest fan of it," Ulrich said.

"Me neither," Yumi said.

"Neither am I, but in this case, ends justify the means considering the situation," Aelita said, making me have to stop myself from shaking my head. This girl was a paragon of neutrality. Unbelievable.

"Jeremy?" Odd asked.

 _"Let's discuss this_ after _we find out what XANA's been up to,"_ Jeremy asked.

"Couldn't agree more," I said as we stopped right on the edge. "We're here."

 _"Alright, get into position and I'll enter the code,"_ Jeremy said. Soon after, the eye like transporter that took us to Sector Five came and got us, zipping through the Sectors very fast.

"Alright, where are all of these monsters?" Ulrich asked, grabbing the hilt of his sword.

 _"What do you know? They're all in a room just under your feet,"_ Jeremy said. _"Never seen that before. We haven't been there yet."_

"More than a perfect enough time to find out what is down there," I said.

 _"Couldn't agree more. Access is through the Celestial Dome. Try and make it fast,"_ Jeremy said.

"Gladly," I said, putting power in my feet to run. Because I was already prepared to go for the countdown switch. Some things you just don't forget.

 _"Don't forget to deactivate the countdown. Or you'll be home a lot sooner than you think,"_ Jeremy said.

"Haven't forgotten. That's why I'm going as fast as I can with nearly veering off an edge," I said with Aelita still on my back. "If it's up high, think you can hit it if I throw you up?"

"I'm sure I can manage," Aelita said as we came into a room full of spaced out platforms.

"You see the key?" I asked. I looked around for a few moments and spotted the key. "Never mind. There it is."

"Shouldn't be a problem to make it there," Aelita said.

"Yeah, we say that now," I said as I made a powerful leap. Due to the powerful augmentation, I was able to skip numerous platforms as I made my way over to the key's location. Didn't take me but ten seconds to make it. "What do you know. It actually wasn't a problem." But then the platforms starting moving.

"Uh oh. I think you all may want to get here ASAP!" Aelita exclaimed. With excellent precision, the three of them got over to us fairly fast before everything closed off.

"Everyone's got their A game going," Ulrich said with a smile.

"I'm on my A game most of the time. Hardly I'll ever fall to even a B," Odd said with a cocky smirk as we walked towards the door that opened for us when I hit the key.

"Jeremy, we're at the elevator," Yumi told him.

 _"That's good. There are more and more monsters in that mysterious room. I got a bad feeling about this,"_ Jeremy said.

"This many monsters is definitely not leading up to anything good," I said as we rode the elevator and stopping on the level where the database was. "What now?"

 _"Head for the south pole of the dome. That's where you can get into the chamber,"_ Jeremy said.

"Got it. But you do realize none of us can fly, right?" I questioned.

 _"I'm taking care of it,"_ Jeremy said.

"Maybe it's the place where XANA is hosting his annual monsters ball. Because so far, we haven't seen any," Odd said.

"Don't jinx..." A cry from a couple of mantas cut me off. I then looked towards Odd. "You were saying?"

"Yeah..." Odd said awkwardly as he readied his arrows. I drew both of my lightsabers while twirling them, my face behind the glow of the blades.

"Come get some," I said as the mantas began to fire. With precision, I deflected the lasers that came our way back at the mantas. But they were definitely aware enough to dodge the reflections.

Ulrich threw his sword at the mantas while Odd unloaded a volley of laser arrows. Between the two of them, both mantas were taken down.

"Nice," I complimented as Ulrich caught his sword.

"Thanks," the both of them said at the same time.

 _"Here are you rides,"_ Jeremy said, the vehicles in question digistructing before our eyes.

"Excellent. Aelita'll have to stay on my back to make room for the Overwing," I said, climbing on the vehicle in question.

"Good things the laws of weight don't apply in this case. Otherwise, we'd sink right into the depths of Sector Five," Aelita said as we flew down low. There was a little section down there that made me groan.

"We have to fly through _that?"_ I questioned with distaste.

"We'll have to be fast," Yumi said. So she flew directly up almost without pause and got us in, Odd and Ulrich quickly following.

"Well that wasn't as much of a problem as I thought it would," I complimented. Aelita hit the switch that was waiting for us when we landed and some steps appeared for us. I bent my knees a little and jumped many steps with no problem.

"You do realize the only reason Aelita can get up that fast is because you're carrying her, right?" Odd said as soon as he made it up the steps.

"Knights live to serve royalty. Milady doesn't need to tire thine legs when I can do it perfectly fine," I said in my knight voice. Aelita went into a fit of giggles again as Yumi rolled her eyes. But Odd and Ulrich had these smirks on their faces that made me raise an eyebrow. I didn't even think I wanted to know what they were thinking.

"Anyway Jeremy, I think we're here," I said.

 _"Can you see the monsters? What are they doing?"_ Jeremy asked.

I squinted my eyes to get an eye on what they were doing. It seemed all of his monsters were... targeting something. Then my eyes widened. This looked familiar.

"We have to stop them," I said.

"What is it?" Yumi asked.

"Two guesses. One, this thing is tied to Franz. Or two, this is connected to how XANA wants to get rid of the digital worlds," I said.

"Either way, he definitely can't be allowed to get away with this," Yumi said as she drew her fans. Ulrich drew his sword as I drew my lightsabers and we all ran forward.

I deflected lasers with precision as we hopped up the platforms. It seems that they noticed us. Unfortunately for them, they were dealing with five badasses.

"I got the mantas. You deal with the sphere!" Yumi exclaimed, deflecting lasers. I nodded before leaping in the air and slashing a Creeper, destroying it.

"Bye bye honey," Aelita said in a sickly sweet tone as summoned an energy ball to her hand and blasted one of the other Creepers with it.

"You need to stop acting like me. It's not good for you," I said, a small smile on my face as I deflected.

"But that's not fun, is it?" she asked innocently. "Also, thanks for the help with the energy blasts."

"You're welcome copycat," I said with a smirk as I threw my lightsabers and destroyed two Creepers on top. Aelita then summoned two more of her energy balls in her hands before throwing them towards the manta that was still in the air. The first missed, but she lead the second one perfectly.

"Nice blasting," I said, twirling my sabers before making them disappear.

"You were right. The ability to actually blast them back _is_ fun," Aelita said.

"Told you," I said with a smirk. Odd blasted the last Creeper with an idle arrow before jumping over to us.

"You know, if you two wanted some privacy you could've just asked," Odd said with a shit eating grin on his face. As if we were one, me and Aelita looked at each other before we both smacked him on the back of the head. "Ow! You have got to stop teaching her this stuff!"

"Never," I said with a smirk.

"It's far too fun," Aelita said with a smile.

"Now there's two of you. Great," Yumi said. But she was smiling.

"There's only one me. No one can hope to reach my level of..."

"Ego?" Yumi questioned.

"Overconfidence?" Ulrich questioned.

"Weirdness?" Odd questioned.

"I was going to say 'uniqueness.' Screw you guys," I said in a fake indignant voice before we all laughed.

* * *

"I'm curious," I said, rubbing my neck as I sat on my bed. Ulrich and Odd were in here as Yumi went back to her house and Aelita as well as Jeremy went do something. Maybe they stopped beating around the bush. I didn't really see it coming, but it'd be nice.

"About what?" Ulrich asked.

"Yumi seemed upset about something. I didn't know what it was," I asked.

"Oh. That. I had a little talk with her earlier," Ulrich said easily.

"A talk about what?" Odd asked.

"About this strange insistence for her to want to keep any girl that likes me away from me like they're disease ridden. I told her to shut it down. She didn't give me an answer. Just walked off," Ulrich said.

"You did?" Odd said with wide eyes. Ulrich nodded. "Wow."

"I can understand why you had that conversation with her, and I'm glad you did. It's a good idea to let her know. Besides..." Suddenly my phone buzzed and I looked at it. It was from Yumi.

 _"Can we talk? Outside of cafeteria,"_ I read in my mind. I frowned slightly. She didn't seem eager to talk to... well, anyone before. Why now?

"Something wrong?" Odd asked me.

"Nah, not really. Just need to take care of something. This shouldn't take but a few minutes. I'll be back," I said, standing up and walking out of the door. Yumi was waiting exactly where she said she was.

"Alright, what's the deal?" I asked, putting my hands in my pockets as I walked up to her.

"Are you the one encouraging Ulrich to 'move on?'" she asked, making me raise my eyebrows to the point where they were almost in my hairline.

"Seriously? We're having this conversation?" I questioned. She simply stood and held me in place with a stare.

"Yes. Yes I did. Regardless of how much I would like to see you two together, I'm not willing to let Ulrich make reckless and impulsive decisions because has a crush on you that you to seem to share, but don't follow up on. So yes. I tell him to move on," I told her, my tone even.

"Well, do me a favor and stop it," Yumi said.

"And why would I do that? It's not like you have a reason as to why you're doing it," I said. Yumi bit her bottom lip slightly, and I raised both of my eyebrows. "You can't be serious. What reason could possibly be enough to the point where you would beat around the bush?"

"It's... complicated," Yumi said.

"Sure, sure. Everything is complicated. Now give me a reason. Tell me why when I managed to get him to put everything on the line by asking you out, you deny him?" I questioned.

"That was you?" Yumi asked, making me nod. "You're making this harder on me."

"I want to see Ulrich happy. And I believe he would be happy with you. But your behavior just doesn't make sense to me," I told her.

"Fine. I'll tell you the reason. As long as you don't tell Ulrich," Yumi said.

"Depends on whether or not the excuse is good or not," I told her. She sighed and closed her eyes. I could tell the struggle on her face showed that she was considering whether or not to tell me. But then she looked at me with a serious look.

"You're very familiar with my issues with my parents in coming home late?" she asked.

"Of course," I said.

"Well, my reasoning in not dating Ulrich sort of pertains to that," Yumi said. I frowned in a pondering fashion. She definitely had my attention now.

"Regardless of how it seems about my family when I'm dealing with Lyoko, I do love them. But I also don't want to make anymore trouble for us that we already have," Yumi said.

"If you don't mind, please get to the point," I asked.

"If I were to date Ulrich, with the way things are with this Lyoko thing, it could end in disaster," Yumi said.

"How so?" I asked curiously.

"Say we start dating and we're still doing this back and forth stuff with Lyoko. Knowing my dad, he'll put two and two together. Or at least he think he would've," Yumi said, making me start to understand.

"I get it. You start dating Ulrich, and your dad will think it's the reason as to why you're coming home late and try to keep you from seeing him," I concluded, making her nod.

"I also want them to see Ulrich in a good light. Not exactly the boy who keeps convincing me to sneak out late at night to do whatever. If I want this to work, we can't date..."

"Until XANA is over," I finished. I unconsciously gripped my hands tight. This stupid fucking AI.. It was the reason why I couldn't stay in my relationship and it's the reason these two can't even pursue one. Any sort of resentment I felt towards Yumi in the past on this situation didn't seem to exist anymore. "Well, you could try hiding the relationship."

"I thought about that. You know how hard it is to hide a relationship around this school?" Yumi asked.

"I wouldn't know. Everyone knew about me and Emily in a couple of days because I didn't care about hiding," I said, not even feeling a pang upon mentioning my failed relationship.

"Well, here's the thing. You ever heard of Simon White?" Yumi asked.

"Nah, doesn't ring a bell I'm afraid. Why?" I asked.

"Well, turns out he was hiding a relationship some time last year. His reasoning behind doing so was because he thought his parents would be overbearing about it. Dating at thirteen. Well, his predictions turned out to be right once Milly and Tamiya found out," Yumi told him.

"Those two are still snooping around?" I questioned.

"Not as much anymore I heard, but they still do it. Anyway, when they found out, the school found out. And so did his parents through association. Turns out his precautions were for a good reason. His mom was livid. It actually ended up turning into a shouting match," Yumi said, making me frown.

"Jesus," I said.

"Yeah. By all means, them finding out is exactly what I don't want. When... _if_ I date Ulrich, I want him and my parents to be on good terms. Not to think he's the guy getting me to sneak out," Yumi said before he tone turned slightly sour. "That a good enough reason for you?"

"Very. But why haven't you told Ulrich this? If he heard instead of you just knocking him back down to the floor..."

"That's the thing. I know Ulrich. If I told him this, he'd have the insistence that we could work anyway; that no one would find out if we were really careful and all of that stuff. But things could definitely go wrong," Yumi said, making me nod. That does sound like how he would handle the situation.

"So that's why you run interference on every girl that moves on him," I said.

"I want to try and buy as much time as I can. You pushing him to move onto another girl doesn't help," Yumi said, fixing me with a hard stare.

"If I had known this sooner, I would've stopped in my tracks without even thinking about it. But one more thing I have to know," I asked.

"What?" Yumi asked.

"How do you actually feel about William? I mean, I feel the need to get this out of the way," I said.

"He's definitely handsome as well as charming. Regardless, I would never pick him over Ulrich," Yumi said.

"Other than when jealously gets in the way," I said with a pointed look.

"Do you miss anything?" Yumi asked.

"No. I don't. Either way, I promise I won't tell Ulrich and I won't keeping pushing him. I would recommend telling him the situation anyway, because if he starts dating like I've suggested dozens of times before, your chance at him disappears," I told her.

"I'll have to take the risk," Yumi said, making me shrug.

"It's your choice. Anyway, I wish you luck," I said, giving her a two fingered salute.

My mind was still spinning from the talk. The whole thing could've been some big elaborate lie, but I didn't believe it was. I mean, she supported her reasoning way too much for it to be conceived as a lie. She wasn't following up on anything Ulrich was saying because she was trying to made sure he stayed in the Ishiyamas' good graces. It seems family was just as important to her as Ulrich was. So they had to get along in her mind. It was reasonable logic. Though it's logic I wouldn't have followed. I would've just went for it. Maybe that was just me rooting for the two to get together. I don't know. Weird I was friends with the two people I shipped in what I initially thought was a TV show.

There's a thing about getting lost in thought sometimes. You stop paying attention to things in your surroundings. Including who's walking in front of you. I knocked whoever was in front of me to the ground as I walked near the boys' dorm.

"Oh, forgive me. I'm just..." I froze as I saw it was Emily I knocked to the ground. Fuck you fate. "...distracted."

"Oh, it's alright. You tend to get like that sometimes," Emily said, rubbing the back of her neck awkwardly. I cleared my throat. I just had to get used to it. Swallow the feelings, accept it, and move on.

"Have a good summer?" I asked.

"Fairly decent. You?" Emily asked awkwardly.

"Couldn't complain. Started my first job. It's a bit of work, but at least I get paid. Plus I've also tried to find other things to do in what little free time I have. So... yeah. Busy," I said before walking past her. Not before giving her a two fingered salute of farewell though.

 _"That wasn't that bad,"_ I thought as I walked down the hall. Some of that awkwardness evaporated once I actually started talking. I walked into my room, and Odd and Ulrich, who looked to be in the middle of a conversation, looked at me as soon as I walked through the door.

"What kept you?" Ulrich asked.

"Just needed to help Aelita and Jeremy with something really fast. It was no big deal," I told them.

"Was expecting something more, but eh. That's fine," Ulrich said. I looked at Ulrich before leaning back on my bed while bouncing between looking at Ulrich and the ceiling. So much to think about... I wanted so badly to tell him to hang in there for Yumi, but I couldn't really do it. Not my place at all. So I wouldn't do it. Yumi would when she was ready. Either brave enough to not care about what her parents think about or until XANA dies. The latter option could take months. Oh, this was perfect...

* * *

A/N: That's kind of my logic with the Ulrich and Yumi thing. It's kind of half brained, but it works. At least to me. It doesn't _quite_ explain why they never got together when XANA was destroyed, but it's still a decent reason in my mind.


	30. Chapter 30 - Lyoko Minus Zero

Episode References: Lyoko Minus One

* * *

"Who would've thought Odd out of all people would run for student rep?" I said, cracking my neck as I looked at the poster he handed us.

"Anything's possible, I suppose," Aelita told me.

"What do you reckon are the odds of him winning?" I questioned.

"Depends on the amount of people he can drug," Ulrich said, making me snicker a little. But my lips quirked up at his line to run for student rep.

"You looking at what I'm looking at?" Aelita asked.

"If you're looking at Odd's sudden talent as a poet, then yes," I said with a grin. "'If you all want to have your say, why not give the nod to good old Odd?' I'm not gonna lie. That's pretty good."

"Why thank you," Odd said, bowing slightly. "I think it's great too. I love lines that rhyme with Odd." I snorted when Aelita giggled. Ulrich and Jeremy just gave Odd perplexed looks that were actually pretty comical. Odd was Odd. He stilled baffled Jeremy and Ulrich with the things he said. And that was saying something considering how long they've been around each other.

"Why didn't you run?" Aelita asked me as we walked into the classroom.

"Don't care about the position to be quite honest with you. Why put myself through something I don't even really care about? Would I run to keep that little bastard Herb from winning? Yes. One hundred percent. But I'm more than certain Odd or Jeremy will beat him. Personally, it's just a matter of Jeremy's brains beating Odd's charisma or the other way around," I said easily.

"Why are you so good with words?" Odd questioned as we sat down.

"Because I'm awesome," I said with a grin. Though it disappeared as soon as I saw Herb walk in the door. Though I managed to convince the others to not knock Herb's head loose for what he did involving Emily, I'm not sure I managed to convince myself to not want to do it. I was just happy and content. Now I was angry to the point where it was prickling my skin like something was crawling on me.

"Calm down," Aelita told me.

"That's not helping much," I said with a growl. "I'm telling you. If by some stroke of insanity he wins student rep and he gets a stupid grin on his face, I will _not_ be held accountable for my actions."

"Try to avoid it. XANA landed you in enough detentions when you first got here," Aelita muttered. I sighed and tried to calm myself down. If busting Herb's nose would have me write a bunch of words on the chalk board, then I would take it. What I would not take is an easy opportunity for XANA to attack while it would be harder for me to get to them.

Instead of focusing my attention on Herb, I made note to keep my vision off him and focus more on Odd, who was the first one to go up to speak for his reasoning behind why he should become student rep.

"And so I ask you. Why should good students represent the bad? Why not let a near dropout like me speak for all the other near dropouts?" Odd said, making me having to hide a laugh behind my hand. At least Odd made this entertaining. But there was some muttering among the crowd of Odd having a good point.

"What do Belpois and Pichon know about our problems, huh? They always get A's and B's, right?" Odd questioned. I felt the need to refute the fact of Jeremy getting anything less than an A in anything but Italian class. The one class Odd was better at than him.

"They don't know the fear of getting left back. They're not capable of defending our cause," Odd said, making me nod in some type of agreement. He definitely had a point there. Him being more on the plane of less than stellar grades kind of gave him a better insight in understanding them more. Either way, I was proud of being one of the smartest people in my grade. The school even. Granted, the info was pooled into my head from being born in this universe via Lyoko, but it still made me knowlegable nonetheless.

"Bravo! Good point, Odd!" Ulrich exclaimed. "Ok, near dropouts. It's time for all of us to take a stand." I don't think I could've held back a laugh if I tried, but it seemed like Aelita saw this coming and put a hand over my mouth. I must've gave a preemptive reaction or something. But judging by the mirth in her eyes and the shaking of her shoulders, she was trying not to laugh herself. So I settled on recovering by starting to clap for Odd's speech along with the other students. I don't know if the jackass in me was causing me to laugh, but I just found the whole scenario so funny. But the loud beeping I heard from Jeremy's computer caused any humor I had previously to instantly disappear.

"You hear that?" Aelita asked.

"A bit hard not to. We have to get away," I muttered. I wasn't even listening to the remotest thing Herb was saying when he was talking. I think I wouldn't have listened even if XANA wasn't attacking.

"How do you reckon we do that? After all, we don't know if XANA's doing anything we need to return in the past from. I'd like to avoid any more trips and detention if I can avoid it," Aelita said.

"Agreed. We need a distraction," I said, the gears in my head turning. Then I smiled. "Actually, I have a pretty good idea. Never thought I'd do something this cliche to get out of school." I then raised my hand to the teacher. He was looking at Jeremy and Odd, who were talking, but his head turned to me when I raised my hand.

"Yes?" I asked?

"Mind if I go to the bathroom? Shouldn't take no more than a second," I asked.

"Yes, but hurry back. Mr. Belpois presentation will happen shortly," he said with a pointed look at Jeremy. The go ahead was all I needed to get up and walk out of class. From being here long enough, I knew that there was a fire alarm near the entrance of the school. Looking around to see if anyone was near me, I hit the alarm really fast before pulling it back up and making a dash for the forest. The alarm was loud, and it hit my ears even as I was running. Again, never thought I would never do something that cliche to get out of school. Though considering the situation, I'd say I'm justified.

"Nice job on the fire alarm," Jeremy complimented.

"It's cliche, but it worked. Yumi needs help, and I reckon I'm one of the best to provide her with it," I said.

"She's at the Red Trail Crossroads. Get there fast," Ulrich said. I nodded in resolution before speeding off there as fast as I can. While slipping on the rubber gloves I had in my pocket. This lead to a bunch of awkward questions as to why I had gloves in my pocket, but I couldn't exactly tell them it was for homicidal AIs who could turn anyone he possesses into an electromancer. But it certainly came into play here.

Taking cover behind a tree, I could see that XANA had the whole class possessed. And seemed to be satisfied keeping Yumi held under lightning torture. So perhaps stealth was a better option. But that close, getting overwhelmed by some many possessed hosts was a definite possibility. Maybe I would just have to grab her and get running.

"Need some help?" William suddenly asked, coming from behind a tree. I tilted my head and him, but nodded. The help would be nice. I wasn't even going to ask how he knew this was going on.

"More than anything, we need to get her out of there. I'll serve as a distraction. Your opening will be brief before they divide their numbers. Be quick. Get her out of there. Waste no time," I said in a whisper so they wouldn't catch wind. William simply nodded. "Now get in position behind the tree. Quickly swipe her out of there."

He got to moving, and I got a feeling of dread in my gut that didn't sit at all right with me. It was the memory of William getting possessed by XANA as a long time host. Given all the trouble that that would give us, I couldn't let him join us. Under any circumstances. Some things you had to play close to the chest, and this was one of them. So he couldn't be a part of Lyoko at all. There was no pre-warning in this case. It was a valid threat to all of us. And it had to be averted if at all possible.

Coming back to the present, I could see him in position behind the tree. Then I could see a fairly thick and lengthy stick that was near me. I smiled as I held the item in my hand. Given the way they were positioned around her, I already had an idea as to how I was going to get them clear. Plot convenience is convenient.

Diving from behind the tree I was hidden behind, I used the stick as a stand before spinning around on it and kicking them all in the face to knock them back. I then stood back onto my own two feet and tripped up the possessed Jim with the branch before smacking him in the face as he was falling to hit him even harder. Unfortunately, the branch broke in half upon contact with his face.

"I knew you had a thick skull when it came to certain things, but this is ridiculous," I said as I threw the branch into a corner. I could hear William's presence behind me, and the grunt of effort he gave off. He had Yumi, but there was a thick bolt of lightning headed my way. I held out a hand so that the electricity would be negated upon contact with the rubber, but the other possessed class members got up and all hit me with a lightning shock at the same time that sent me flying into the giant tree behind me. I groaned as I shakily stood to my feet, looking at William who had already taken off. I was close behind him in an instant.

"You ok?" William asked.

"Hand her off to me. I can still run relatively fast with her on my back," I said as I jumped a bolt of lightning that was near my feet. He looked hesitant in handing her off, but as I was running, I smoothly got in between him and kept her on my back. As soon as he sped up, so did I. His eyes widened.

"Wow, you're strong," he said.

"I've been doing stuff like this since I got here. I'm used to it," I said as I jumped more lightning headed out way. "I don't like how close these shots are to hitting me. We need to find a place to divide." Then I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket. Given how I was carrying Yumi, I couldn't answer. Which wasn't good because it could be something important about the tower. Then I could hear a muffled moan near my ear.

"Welcome back to the land of the living," I said as moved behind a tree and let her get off really fast. Then I quickly fished my phone out of my pocket before it went to voicemail. "Jeremy!"

 _"Robert! Listen, we just got Aelita to the tower. Things could've been very bad without Ulrich there,"_ Jeremy told me.

"Scyphozoa?" I questioned as Yumi gave off a grunt of effort from ducking a bolt of lightning headed our way.

 _"How'd you guess? Anyway, she's in the tower now. Do we need to return to the past?"_ Jeremy questioned as the possessed class crumpled from the tower being deactivated. I then looked at William as he stopped. Given how he was supposed to be in detention...

"Nah, I can make this work. Give me a few. I'll let you know," I said, shutting off the call. Then I precisely hit William in his neck pressure point to knock him out immediately. Yumi looked towards me with slight surprise.

"What'd you do that for?" she asked.

"I might be able to save us a return trip," I said I hoisted him onto my back. "Wait for everyone to wake up and play as if you were the only one still awake. I'm sure I can sneak him back in detention." Yumi nodded as I walked back to the class room. I then sighed in relief. I knew for a fact XANA managed to get one of the sectors when he launched this attack. Me being here was able to prevent that. Actually, relieved wasn't the right word. Giddy, more like it.


	31. Chapter 31 - 007 Ain't Got Shit on This

Episode References: False Lead

* * *

I smiled as I played the song for Aelita. The audio soundtrack for "Beauty of Annihilation." It was minus the lyrics, but this thing handled the musical portion of songs, not any singers. I then looked to her.

"What do you think?" I asked.

"I like it. Are there lyrics to it?" Aelita asked.

"For sure. I can write them down if you're interested. I've been working on plenty of other stuff as of lately. Hail to the King by Avenged Sevenfold, more Disturbed songs than I can count, Closer by the Chainsmokers, and other ones. It's a sudden change of genre, but not the point. Once you get a feel for how things work, it's not that hard to construct a song through this program," I said as I busied myself with messing with another song. But I when I turned to face her, she was smirking at me.

"Mr. 'I'm not going to use the program that much.' Look at you," she said, making me shake my head. But I couldn't stop the grin creeping on my face.

"The greatest irony ever. I thought I wasn't going to use the program all that much if at all, and here I am making every song that comes to mind. I just wish there was some way I could transfer these onto some of the music players they have," I said.

"You might be able to if you insert a disk and convert the music from there," Aelita said.

"Hmm, good idea. I don't think capacity on CDs has changed really, so I should be able to put plenty onto one CD. I can also spend some of my money I have saved up on a player. Doesn't hurt to have something to listen to some days," I said.

"Couldn't agree more. And I do want those lyrics, you know," Aelita said, giving me a pointed look.

"But of course. I live to serve," I said with a small bow of my head before looking at the clock. "Ah, breakfast is almost over. We're are going to starve until lunch for doing this."

"That's what you think," Aelita said before grabbing a bag she had over in the corner. Out came two breakfast sandwiches, which made me sigh in relief.

"Have I ever told you that you are the best person, like, ever?" I said, grabbing one of the sandwiches.

"You could stand to mention it more. But on a more serious note, I think I would've regretted this decision as much as you would later on if I hadn't done this. So a quick trip into town was in order before I came here," Aelita said, unwrapping her sandwich and biting into it. I got out of the computer chair and found a spot on the floor, Aelita taking a position in front of me.

"So... how goes things with Jeremy?" I asked idly before I took a bite into my sandwich. She froze in taking another bite from hers before eyeing me with a raised brow. I copied the motion.

"Am I going to go a day without you asking me that?" Aelita asked.

"Nope. Because in retrospect, your best chance at a relationship is staring you in the face and you both are just... waiting around. You two would be happy, you wouldn't have to keep Lyoko a secret like I had to. It'd be perfect," I said.

"It's more complicated than that," Aelita said.

"It's only complicated if you make it. You two remind me of Ulrich and Yumi at times. Only you don't use surrogates to try to make each other jealous," I said, making Aelita cringe slightly. Then she eyed me hesitantly.

"Er... is it getting that bad?" she asked. The look she gave me caused some hesitancy in me when it came to answer the question, but I ignored it.

"Well, a little. I mean, you two kind of just stand around and just exchange awkward compliments at times. Other than that, I don't see any initiative for a relationship. At this point, I've been spending more time with you than he has. Certainly not what I expected," I said easily.

"So, what? Am I a bad person to be around?" Aelita said with a small pout that made me laugh.

"As adorable as that is, I'm not Jeremy. I don't simply bend to others' will with a look. Nah, you gotta try harder than that," I said, taking another bite into my sandwich. "You've got him wrapped around your finger, but not me. I'm just a little wrapped around it."

"I get using that ability from you," Aelita said, making me grin and shake my head.

"Are you going to blame me for every bit underhandedness that you accumulate?" I questioned.

"Yes. Because you are the cause," Aelita said, making me laugh loudly. It echoed through the room from how suddenly loud it was.

"Ah, you women are all the same. Always blame the male when you don't want to blame yourselves," I said, swiping my hands in the air as a show of dismissing what she said. She only grinned at me.

"You know the rule. The woman is always right," she said, her grin turning into a smirk.

"I know the rule, but I don't follow it," I said before wrapping my sandwich paper up. "Well, we're both finished. Considering how much fun I've been having so far, I half feel like heading back.

"Me either. But we should find a balance between this and hanging out with the others. But before we do, two things. One, show me when you make anything new. And two, don't forget about those lyrics," Aelita told me.

"One, that'll be a lot of stuff from this point on, but I'll try to oblige you. And two, of course not," I said as we walked out of the factory.

* * *

"Where were you two?" Ulrich questioned as we walked up to the group. His voice caught the attention of the others.

"Working on something," I said simply before raising my head at Odd. "What's with him?"

"His digital plaything has gone missing," Ulrich said, making Odd glare at him. I raised an eyebrow at the whole situation and when I looked to Aelita, she simply shrugged herself. We knew what Ulrich was referring to, but we were just acting nonchalant about the situation.

"Hi! What's up guys?" Yumi questioned, coming up to us.

"Odd's Tamuguchi is missing, and he's breaking down over it," Ulrich said.

"Let's see if we can find any clues in your room," Jeremy said, getting Odd to stand to his feet and follow him. After a few seconds, Ulrich followed as well. Me and Aelita looked at each other. We didn't expect for everyone to disperse so quickly. Hence the reason why we left when we did. The opportunity to make more music was kind of wasted when we weren't even going to be able to hang with our friends. Most of them, anyway.

"You two know something I don't know?" Yumi questioned. The both of us looked back at Yumi then shook our heads. She narrowed her eyes slightly at me as if probing me, but I gave away nothing. I didn't quite know if I should tell Yumi about what we do with the Supercomputer with our spare time.

"Should we go help the others?" Aelita questioned.

"We could. I'm not all that eager to spend time searching for a piece of plastic though that we all know the location of," I said.

"You two are acting pretty funny," Yumi said, making me look at her in an inquiring way.

"Funny how?" I asked.

"I don't know. Just... different," Yumi asked. "What exactly are you two working on?"

"Should we tell her?" I whispered to Aelita, my lips hardly moving.

"Why not?" Aelita said before looking at Yumi. "It's a project of sorts."

"What kind of project?" Yumi asked.

"It involves music. Basically, Aelita made a music simulator on the Supercomputer. And I basically show her some of the music made in my dimension on it. It's a fun little thing we do," I told her.

"That sounds amazing. I don't know why you beat around the bush with it," Yumi asked.

"It's just like... I dunno. Sounds a bit ridiculous when you say it out loud. Plus it's kind of a thing I like doing with Aelita. Considering her talent music wise, I'd like for her to have songs to draw some type of inspiration from. She really enjoys listening, and I enjoy making it," I told her. Yumi seemed to stare at me a little bit before smiling. As much as it seemed like she just liked the idea, I had the strangest feeling there was some other kind of intent behind it. I couldn't put my finger on it though.

"Well, in any case, I do believe you should tell the others. I'm sure we'd all be interested in hearing it as well," Yumi said.

"You think we trust Odd to be quiet while Robert works?" Aelita questioned rhetorically.

"Alright, good point. But still. There has to be some stuff you've made," Yumi said.

"There is. I do want to burn the audio onto CDs so I don't have to go to the factory to listen to it. But don't tell the others just yet. I see us telling them what we're working on at some point, but now is not a preferable time," I said.

"Work that _you're_ doing. I just watch you. Yet unlike Lyoko work, I'm actually entertained," Aelita said with a small chuckle. I could tell that was a small jab at the distasteful Lyoko work she did that involved finding the missing memory.

"So what? Do you enjoying watching him work?" Yumi questioned, her smirk only slightly showing through her voice. I just rolled my eyes.

"Yes I do. It's a very interesting thing to see," Aelita said easily. Unfortunately, the implications of the statement had my face going red. Yumi noticed my awkward expression and grinned. She could tell that the statement had not passed me by, even though it passed straight over Aelita's head. I refrained from telling Yumi my thoughts on the matter.

 _"Anyway,"_ I said with extra emphasis to stop us from getting back on the subject. "What do you suppose we do now? I mean, they're likely going to be searching for the thing until lunchtime. And sadly, there are other things I'd rather do."

"You could always go back to the factory and continue your little group project. I'll cover for you as long as you promise to show me some of the stuff you've been working on later. They'll know unless they find out for themselves or you tell them," Yumi said, making me nod.

"Back to the music board it is," I said as I looked to Aelita. "Think I'll show you AC/DC next."

"Sounds like a band," Aelita said as we walked towards the factory.

"It is. They're a damn good one too. They have some amazing rock songs. I already have an idea as to the specific settings required. It's a matter of just putting it together. I also have to accept the fact that writing the song lyrics down digitally is faster and more efficient than writing it down on paper," I explained to her.

"That's a job for your personal computer, rather. You wouldn't expect the most advanced computer in the world to not have something as simple as a document application for writing and saving notes, but it does not," Aelita said.

"That is a shocker. Then again, it is probably the best idea that it doesn't exist. Because then I would be extremely tempted to do everything from there, and I would almost never leave the factory. Like Jeremy when he was on the search for your missing memory, only in a more fun way," I said. She put a hand over her and her mouth considerably widened as if suppressing a yawn, but the slight and brief higher pitch lead to me to believe it was a cover up for something. But what? A giggle? A squeal? Or some weird high pitched noise that would take a dog to catch? The last one wasn't meant to be mean. It's just what it sounded like.

"You play way too much," Aelita said, hitting my shoulder playfully. Definitely a giggle. I only grinned.

"Because me being serious is exactly how you like me, huh?" I questioned rhetorically with a raised brow.

"Mmm, you hold a good point. You being serious is more or less reserved for XANA situations," Aelita said.

"It's why... hup! I gotcha!" I said, my reflexes quickly steadying a stumbling Aelita. "You alright?" She looked back at the item she nearly fell over, which was a rock somewhat firmly planted in the ground.

"I'm fine. I'm not a fan of rocks that decide to not just lie on top of the ground and rather decide to lay in it. It's a lot less dangerous for my health if they just decided to stop above ground where they belong," Aelita in a slight huff.

"You're saying all rocks belong above ground?" I questioned.

"According to my stubbed toe and me nearly falling over, yes. I do believe that all rocks should stay above ground so that more innocent people like me are less likely to be injured and hospitalized by tripping on them," Aelita said, making me stop and look at her strangely for a second. Then I just started bursting out laughing.

"Oh, my God! Hahahaha!" I said, putting my hands on my knees while bowing my head in my laughter.

"It's not _that_ funny," Aelita said as she stared at me with an unreadable gaze.

"S-sure... sure it's not," I said before my laughing returned in full volume. Then, I could hear her giggling as well. It wasn't loud, as if she didn't want to give me the satisfaction of her statement actually being funny.

"My God, what have I turned you into?" I said once I managed to recover from my laughter.

"Into something more eccentric than who I was at first," Aelita said.

"That sounds about right," I said with a wide grin. "Then again, you pull it off like me and make it funny. I'm so proud." I then proceeded to wipe a fake tear from my face, making her smile wider before nudging me slightly.

"You are the most corrupting, yet best thing that could've happened to this group," Aelita said.

"That is correct on both accounts. I got Ulrich and Yumi into cussing, so that definitely emphasizes the corrupting part," I said as I removed the manhole and let her go down first.

* * *

"You two being here preemptively kind of worked out. What did you find?" Jeremy asked.

"Tower in the polar region. But I double checked the scans. It's bouncing back and forth between saying it's activated and deactivated. As if it's confused as to what it actually is," I said, showing him the results of the scan.

"I don't know what to make of that," Jeremy said.

"Neither do I. I can't help but feel if it's a trap. He hasn't done anything yet, has he?" I questioned.

"Not that we could see. Then again, we rushed over here after we contacted you two," Jeremy said, making me frown.

"Then I say we wait," I said.

"Are you insane?" Odd questioned.

"Yes. I've always been insane. But I find that in this case, it's better to wait and see what happens rather than rushing out there. The less chance we give XANA to expose Aelita to the Scyphozoa, the better. His plan to destroy all of the sectors is still very much relevant," I said, intertwining my fingers.

"I think you're right. We can keep an eye on things back at the school and wait until XANA acts. Better than rushing in when we're not sure whether or not there's a tower to deactivate," Jeremy said.

"Then we'll wait," Yumi agreed with a nod.

"I think me, Jeremy, and Odd ought to stay here. We can instantly get transferred to Lyoko and help with any kind of interference from XANA's monsters beforehand. In the meanwhile, the rest of you can head on back to the school and keep an eye on things," I said as I leaned back in the chair with my left hand under my cheek. "The best way to ensure success is to avoid as many mistakes as possible. A powerful tool in any person's arsenal is patience. And that's what we'll use."

"All of you, step away from that keyboard," a deep voice said behind us. Several of my friends gasped as a collective unit while I turned around quickly. Two people who looked like government agents with Jim right behind them. Oh, great.

"I'm afraid that can't happen. You don't know the forces of which you're dealing with," I said patiently. I could feel several pairs of eyes on me as if carefully observing what I was trying to do.

"What is that, some kind of threat son?" the black agent asked.

"It's not a threat, it's a promise. And I, nor anyone I'm associated with is carrying that promise. We're dealing with forces that are far beyond what you could perceive as logical, much less it actually being real. But there is a threat that is very much imminent, and this computer along with this technology directly ties into that threat. You make us leave now, you are endangering the lives of the people you are sworn to protect. Much as you are sworn to secrecy, so are we. Our work is delicate, and must be treated as such," I explained to him as I gestured around the room. "You could try to take us in. But that would result in nothing but us wasting time. The choice is yours."

A long silence followed after my words, and man was I glad for the ability to actually slow down and say my thoughts clearly and concisely. That was a problem before I came to this dimension. Now it wasn't, and the agents in front of me were eyeing me and the others carefully; as if putting us under a microscope to inspect our body language and our intentions.

"What is this threat you speak of?" the white agent asked. I avoided sighing in relief. At least I was buying us time. A return to the past would give us time to figure out what to do about this situation.

"In recent exploration of this computer, we discovered a virus," Jeremy started, straightening his glasses. "A virus that is not of any person's control."

"Are you suggesting artificial intelligence?" the white agent asked.

"Precisely. The ability of this virus is unlike any record you may have. Other than just the fact that it can think and act for itself," Jeremy said.

"Rather, this virus has the ability to code itself into whatever it needs to be. It has shown the ability to manipulate both organic life and natural matter to its will. There is a specific zone where it draws this ability, and rather, the only way to stop it is to travel into this specific zone and combat it digitally," I told them.

"Transferal of a person's mind into a computer. That's stuff even the U.S. government has yet to achieve. How did you six of all people achieve such a thing?" the black agent asked, his eyes narrowing slightly. He almost had the idea down, but not quite.

"We can trade notes later," I said dryly, knowing that once we returned to the past, there wasn't going to be a later. "For now, the entity is biding its time. Waiting for an opportunity to strike it. If you really want to help, an eye near the campus would be great. Find a way to make contact with us so that we can gain headway on the threat. The AI has found a way to interfere with our methods to track its movements, and we cannot tell when it will strike. I don't care if one of you stays in case of security reasons or something like that, but we need a set of eyes back there. Two would be better," I explained to him.

I was held under the gazes of the agents and Jim for a good while. Between looking at me, they also took in their surroundings before going back to look at me. Then they nodded.

"We'll listen to what you say for now, but as soon as this threat has passed, you will tell us everything so that the government can turn this into a national security matter to deal with it more effectively than you kids can," the black agent said, making me have to refrain from rolling my eyes. But I nodded. Not like after we returned to the past that he was going to remember this stuff.

"Very well. You two, head back and keep an eye on the campus," the black agent said, pointing to his partner and Jim. "I'll stay here and keep an eye on you all."

"In that case, I need to return to my searching. I'm trying to see if I can fix the scanner," I said, turning back to the computer and typing. Not under any circumstances, could I allow this agent to get transferred. That would make him immune to the return to the past, and that would essentially ruin everything.

Then I was suddenly aware of a familiar black substance working its way down from the top of the computer. I quickly turned with the others, and the substance found its way into the government agent that was with us. I sighed as I put on my gloves.

"I got an idea," I said as I jumped from the chair and hit the possessed agent with a kick to the chest before Ulrich followed it up with a dropkick to the back that rendered him unconscious when he hit the wall face first. I then loaded his body into the elevator before dropping it down and stopping it halfway before disabling the elevator. "If there wasn't the possibility that the agent would be hurt immensely from this, I'd drop him down the elevator shaft. He'd have a harder time getting back up from that. Even all XANAfied."

"Well, it's good to see you put the safety of others first. You plan on staying up here?" Jeremy asked.

"Yeah. Just in case he gets back up here. Or may be followed by his other partner," I said as watched the others head toward the scanners.

At this point, there was nothing to do but wait. And then I frowned after being here so long. He wasn't coming up here. Many times XANA used the side entrance to get in here.

"We need to invest in cameras for the elevator shaft. I wonder why he hasn't come after us. I know that wouldn't hold him forever," I said.

"You're right. Something's wrong. I don't... huh?" Jeremy said before looking at the floor with a perplexed look. I noticed it too. Purple electricity was ever so slightly reaching the surface of where were standing. Then Jeremy pulled up the camera for the Supercomputer and saw that the agent XANA possessed was trying to destroy it.

"Just like I expected. He's not going after us because he's trying to destroy the Supercomputer!" Jeremy exclaimed as his screen shifted. "And now the scanners are offline!"

"I'll take care of it. As well as I can, at least," I said, going down the ladder. Focusing my attention on the possessed agent, I jumped from the ladder while trying not to give off a grunt of effort, but he simply turned intangible and I went right through him. I rolled to recover before instantly wheeling around.

 _"Ok, that didn't go as planned,"_ I thought as I stared at the agent. A small growl emerged from his throat as he raised his hand and sent a torrent of lightning after me, while I raised my hands and my gloves absorbed the electricity while advancing forward and making sure to keep my sights on him.

 _"I'm fine just staying like this,"_ I thought idly, careful not to say anything in case XANA decided to change that. Unfortunately, it seemed like he could either read thoughts or had just came to the same conclusion that I did, because he stopped shooting lightning at me. Then, moving quickly towards me, he threw a punch at me that I quickly blocked, but then he moved quickly and kicked me into the wall behind me. I gave off a grunt of pain before immediately standing back up. Thanks to XANA, my threshold for pain was a lot better. That didn't hurt nowhere near as much when he did it the first time.

"Try harder," I said, moving my neck to the side to crack my neck. Again, moving quickly towards me I grabbed the blow that was headed for me and was already moving to block the second that he was sending my way. I then raised my foot and began kicking the agent in the face at a rapid rate before giving off a harder kick to get him off me before he imbued his hands with electricity. While my hands could absorb the electricity, my body would fry if it tried.

Then suddenly, the agent collapsed right as he was charging at me. I let down my defensive posture before heading towards the ladder and climbing up and looking at Jeremy.

"We good?" I questioned.

"Yeah. Aelita just deactivated the tower. Was just about to transfer," Jeremy said as he hit a button on the keyboard. Then my vision was nothing but white.

* * *

"I do have to thank you for getting me to work out my telekinesis more. It made dealing with the mega tanks we had much easier," Yumi said.

"How many were there?" I asked.

"Six. She threw four of them off the ledge. It was amazing," Ulrich said, spreading his hands out with a grin on his face. I had to restrain myself from smirking at the warm smile she got on her face when he said that. It was the little reactions that I was starting to notice now.

"Listen up everybody!" Odd said, brandishing a camcorder. "I'm going to see who Jean Pierre's kidnapper was." I scratched the back of my head while looking towards the others, who looked just as awkward as I did. Didn't take long for him to figure out who swiped it.

"You're all a bunch of traitors. It seems like Yumi and Robert are the only ones I can trust from now on," Odd said.

"Umm... I knew about it. I just didn't say anything," I admitted.

"And it was my idea in the first place," Yumi added.

"You two as well? But why?" Odd asked.

"Because not a day went by that you weren't carrying that thing," I told him.

"He's right. You were really starting to get addicted to it, so we just got rid of it," Ulrich said.

"But relax. He's in good hands now Odd," Yumi said, making me have to hold back a laugh. I don't know whether Hiroki's hands would be qualified as good hands. More like destructive ones.


	32. Chapter 32 - Suppressed Emotions

Episode References: Aelita

* * *

"Here," I said as I passed her a soda. "Free of charge. You alright?"

"No," Aelita said, making me raise an eyebrow. Then she shook her head. "I mean, yes. I'm just..."

"Well Miss Einstein, better get a good night's sleep. A super brain like yours needs a little shut eye, and most of us go to sleep at night," Sissi said. I did my best not to focus on Herb and how punchable his face was, and instead tried to focus on Sissi.

"Now, how would you know what's good for the brain?" Aelita said before I could speak. "From what I've seen, you can never get yours to turn on." Every one of us laughed especially hard at this. Aelita normally left the put downs to us, but when she said them, it just made it ten times funnier.

"She's got a point you know," I interjected before Sissi could say anything. "The ability to think is just not known to you. Because if it was, then I can wonder how someone can stay so simple minded their entire lives. You're like a hamster running a wheel. Grow up."

There was no laughter from this statement as a bit of venom made its way into my statement. I eyed Herb and I saw him flinch. I already knew my eyes were screaming a desire to murder, and he pulled Sissi's arm to get him to move on. When they finally did, I sighed.

"It's funny. No matter how long it's been, I can never get over it," I said with a frown.

"You talked us out of beating him up only for you to stare at him like you want to murder him?" Ulrich questioned.

"Thought I would be able to curb my feelings, but nope. This hit closer to home than I thought. I can normally move on from stuff, but not this time," I said, looking towards the sky as if I were looking to God for an answer. I wasn't really, but looking up at a clear sky helped my thought process more. Cleared it.

"To lunch?" Odd suddenly interjected, causing me to turn towards him with a nod.

"Gladly. Just..." I suddenly sniffed and caught an awful smell. "Oh, holy mother of shit! What is that?"

"Congratulations. The smell of Odd's feet has finally caught up to your nostrils," Ulrich said, making me fan my eyes and look at him in disbelief.

"That smell is coming from Odd's _feet?"_ I questioned, sounding completely baffled. I then moved closer to him, and the smell got even stronger, causing me to hold my nose. "Gah! Yup! Definitely where it's coming from!"

"I'm shocked that you're just now noticing," Jeremy said.

"I'm _glad_ I didn't notice. Mother of God, my eyes are watering," I said, blinking really fast.

"Wait, hold on. What's wrong with my feet?" Odd questioned.

"Well, to put it tactfully..." Ulrich said, snapping his fingers. "When you take your shoes off, it's a little bit like um..."

"Like a pile of fresh manure that we just can't seem to get away from," Jeremy said.

"That's it!" Ulrich exclaimed in mock realization.

"Forget fresh manure. More like shit that's been left in the toilet for weeks on end. My eyes are going to melt," I said, causing some laughter.

"You people are nuts," Odd said.

"Then we'll ask someone who knows. Hey Heidi!" Ulrich exclaimed, causing the girl to turn towards him. "Do you know how bad Odd's feet stink?"

"No duh. Keep his feet as far away from me as you can," Heidi said, making everyone except Odd laugh. Some of the tension from earlier was eased away like butter. Ah, this is why I loved these people. I was still shaking with laughter even as we got up to head to lunch.

"This is a disaster. My reputation as a Super Stud is at stake," Odd said.

"Or his imaginary one," I muttered to Aelita, making her hold her mouth to restrain giggles.

"No girl is going to want to go out with a... a..."

"A... walking pool of toxic waste?" Jeremy supplied helpfully, making Ulrich laugh obnoxiously.

"That is the most obnoxious laugh I have ever heard from you," I said with a small grin.

"I think I'm afforded the right after living with that smell for so long," Ulrich said.

"Some friend you are Ulrich. You could've said something, you know. Given me a little hint at least," Odd said.

"It's hard to talk when you're holding your nose, good buddy," Ulrich said, making me snicker again.

"I thought you were trying to be funny," Odd said as Yumi put an arm around his shoulder.

"Don't worry Odd. Modern medicine must've found some kind of cure for it," she told him.

"Well, there's..."

"Acid baths?" I supplied.

"An entire market's worth of air freshener?" Aelita added.

"Being buried in soap and water for weeks on end?" Ulrich added.

"All great ideas, but I was going to suggest amputation," Jeremy said, making everyone but Odd roar with laughter. We were such assholes to each other, but we were all still the best of friends. Though Odd might like us a little less now after this.

"Start without me. Be right there!" Odd exclaimed, running off.

"Where are you going?" I yelled after him.

"To get my feet fixed!" he yelled back.

"Sounds like he's listening to Jeremy. He just needs a decent pair of scissors," I said as I walked in the lunchroom.

During the time that we spent sitting down, I noticed Aelita's eyes became half lidded at one point. Apparently that soda did not wake her up enough. I paused in my eating to look at her for a moment. She seemed completely out of it, so I shook her.

"Aelita," I said softly, making her eyes widen to the size of saucers before they leveled out and she looked at me. "You alright?"

"Yes. I'm fine. It's just..." She was cut off by the sudden arrival of Odd, who had a self assured look on his face. It seemed to be somewhat of a theme for me to get cut off every time I tried to elaborate more about Aelita's problems.

"Hey guys. No more feet nightmare. Call me 'Odorless Odd,'" he said.

"How'd you manage that?" Ulrich asked as he bit into an apple.

"You'll find that out tonight. It's a surprise," Odd said. I then looked to Aelita.

"So what's the deal?" I asked, lowering my voice.

"Do you think my father's still alive?" she suddenly asked me. I frowned slightly. That was a question out of the blue.

"What prompted this?" I asked, catching the attention of the others.

"It's just... I've been thinking about it. And... well, I just wondered if we could rematerialize him. I mean, you have the prior knowledge and all..." Aelita asked, trailing off.

"I can make no guarantees, but there is a possibility. One positive change did come of how we dealt with the XANA situation that lead to him getting out of the Supercomputer. One that I was not thinking about considering the situation," I said, taking a bite of food.

"Which was?" Jeremy asked as I swallowed.

"Under normal circumstances, Franz Hopper came and used whatever resources that he had left to restore Aelita's memory. But this time, I was able to give it back to her. How or why, I do not know. But I was," I explained as I put my fork down and looked at Aelita. "Yes, there is a chance. But there is the matter of finding him. And there's the possibility that the materialization code that we have may not work him. Possibly because Franz exists on Lyoko in a different form. Many factors stand in the way of accomplishing this goal, but yes. It is possible. Not likely, but possible."

"Well, as far as finding him, I haven't found a thing. No trace of him. At all," Jeremy said.

"But there is a way," Aelita said, looking at Jeremy. Her eyes flashed with a look more alert than it ever was all day. "There has to be a way to look for him, there has to..."

"Aelita." My tone was gentle and it was patient. Because it was not going to make what I had to tell her any easier. "At this point in time, I don't think it's wise to waste time looking for your father."

"What do you mean? Of course..."

"Let me explain," I interjected politely. "There are multiple cons to spending time tracking your father down. Firstly, we haven't even figured out how to get directly into Sector Five without the need of the Scipio transporter or travel into the internet to go after XANA. Finding him may be directly tied to Sector Five, and if XANA somehow manages to get rid of the Sectors using you, we need to be prepared for that."

"Secondly, there's the possibility that the hope that he's alive is not true. Or that he can't be transferred back to earth. I don't want to be negative, but we do have to face facts. Or in this case, possibilities."

"And lastly, there's the fact that if we find Franz, you know for a fact XANA will know too. If he's alive, he's safe. XANA can't get to him. At the cost of us not being able to get to him. Finding him would only put him at more risk. If wait until the dust settles, then we can focus on finding him and bringing him back. Until then, it's better just to wait."

"So, what, we're supposed to sit here and do nothing?" Aelita questioned.

"Sometimes the best option is to do nothing. This is one of those times. Doing nothing concerning your father saves time, energy, effort, and will keep XANA from finding him if we have better luck than him," I said, putting a hand on her shoulder and looking her in the eyes. "I know you want to find your father. And sooner or later we will. But I want you to trust me on the fact that this is the better course of action right now. When it's safe, we _will_ find him. And we'll bring him here with us."

Aelita stared at me for a few moments, hesitation and an unsure look coming to her face as I could see her mind battling with thoughts. Eventually she looked to me and nodded. I smiled gently before going back to my food.

"Now this is the part where you make a cheesy knight joke," Odd said with a grin, making me roll my eyes. Like Odd had the right to talk about anyone being cheesy. Yes, I admit things that I said were cheesy, but Odd had no right to talk.

Lips pressed against my cheek made my eyes widen as I looked to the side and saw Aelita smiling at me.

"Thank you. Not just for this situation, but just for everything," she said.

"No..." I cleared my throat briefly before speaking clearly. "No problem. I just wanted to make sure you understood the situation and that you knew why I said what I said. That was wasn't just saying it cause it sounded impractical."

Aelita nodded and continued eating, everyone else doing the same after a few moments. But I couldn't help but notice I had caught the stares of the others for a moment. I didn't quite know what to make of them. It wasn't helping that even though it was just a kiss on the cheek, I felt like burying my face in a bucket of ice water to help without how hot my face felt.

 _"Ok, I'm starting to get why having lady friends is awkward when they show affection. Cause my mind takes it out of context,"_ I thought as I took a bite of food. At least my face felt less like I was running a fever.

The bell rung, and then I remembered we had study hall next. I groaned at the thought of just sitting there and reading stuff that I mostly likely already knew. But then another option came to mind.

"Music? History? Music? Learning about boring inventions. Music? Stuff that I have lodged into my brain. Decisions decisions," I said as I tapped my finger against the table.

"Just because Aelita showed you that thing doesn't mean you have to waste away on it," Jeremy said with a pointed look. I had came clean with the music thing, and while I got a few questions as to what I was working on, it didn't really raise eyebrows from the group. Which slightly boosted Yumi's ego.

I shook my head with a grin as I looked into the notepad. Then I started humming Disturbed's Facade, which was the song I had written down recently. My mind was made up.

"Fuck study hall. Going to make more music. Anyone want to join? Feel free. I know I'm leaving," I said as I grabbed my notepad and made to get up from the table.

"I can't go. I need the extra credit it gives," Ulrich said.

"Unfortunately, the same goes for me in Ulrich's case," Odd said, sounding disappointed.

"Well, I've never skipped out myself. Intentionally, at least," Jeremy said, making me look to Aelita.

"You gonna stay? Even if you don't, I'll fill you in on anything you may be interested in once I get back. I have about two hours until the actual test, so I'll be able to get a fair amount of stuff down. My grades are good, so I don't need the credit," I said.

"Um... I think I'll stay. You know, I should try to get in the habit of not skipping out on anything not XANA related," Aelita said, making me shrug and Jeremy smile. She knew as well as I did that the study hall was optional, but hey. Whatever floated her boat.

"Suit yourselves. I'm gonna enjoy myself making music. It's not my music, but it's still music," I said as I dumped my tray and headed towards the factory. I neared the exit to the cafeteria, but I was stopped by Emily. I smiled at her, though it was somewhat strained. Still, better than instantly having my grin wiped from my face.

"You going to study hall?" Emily asked.

"Nope. The others are, but to be honest, my grades are good enough to where I can just skive off. Feels great," I said with a smile.

"Well, that's nice. Um... what's that?" Emily asked, pointing to my notepad.

"Little side project I have going on. When I find the time," I said, making sure that the words were out of sight. "Anyway, I'll head on out. Have a good day."

"Wait," Emily suddenly said, causing me to stop. "How are you?"

"Fine. Just been finding other stuff to occupy my time since the summer. Found something that I really like a lot, and I do it when I have the time. And if you're wondering what it is, it's another secret. Suppose I'm good at keeping those, as you've reminded me," I said evenly as I stared at her. The look on her face got somewhat awkward as she broke eye contact.

"If you had just told me..."

"I told you. It's not that easy," I said, an edge making its way into my tone. "How many times have I told you that I can't tell you no matter how much I want to? That's what you refuse to get. That didn't change because you're not my girlfriend anymore. I'm alright with you ending the relationship because of the secret. I understand that, and in some cases, it's for the best. But I am _not_ ok with you sounding like what I'm doing is something as simple as going back on my word, and it's not. It's more than that. More than you could hope to understand."

I closed my eyes and breathed in and out to try and calm myself down. This topic always got me heated, but I wasn't angry at her. I wasn't. I was more upset at the situation XANA put me in than anything. But there was nothing I could do. Then I paused before fixing her with a serious look.

"I care about you, but family is more important to me. And I cried my lungs out the night you ended it. So that says a lot about how much I care about what little family I have, doesn't it?" I said rhetorically. Dammit. I was looking to get more music made, and here I am spilling my guts to my ex. "Thank you. I hope you have a good day."

 _"You know, I'm starting to get why people cut off ties with their exes. Nine times out of ten, it's better for your sanity,"_ I thought as I went towards the factory. I certainly did not expect for more... suppressed emotions to come to the surface.

I shook my head as I sat in the factory chair and pulled up the program. Ok, what was I going to work on? Plenty to choose from. Finish up what was left of the Disturbed songs I knew, Five Finger Death Punch, Nightcore, idle songs. Decisions, decisions. I didn't even get to decide because an alert for XANA activating a tower popped up. I sighed.

"Great," I said as I put the headset on and dialed the numbers of everyone. I got no answers from everyone except for Yumi.

 _"What's the deal?"_ she asked in a whisper.

"XANA, as you can guess. Get over here as fast as you can," I told her. "And get the others too. They're not answering."

 _"Ok. On my way,"_ Yumi said before the call shut off. I continued to type on the keyboard to get some idea as to figure out where the tower was. Then a sudden idea came to me.

"Oh, if this works, we'll be taking the fight back to you XANA," I said with a smile as I began to type. Then my frown disappeared as I didn't have the disk I had written the base code on with me. Shit. No time to go back for it now.

I continued to wait until I heard the elevator activate. I looked behind me and everyone was in there, which made me smile.

"Ah, you're all here. No problems?" I asked.

"None thankfully," Ulrich said as I gave the headset to Jeremy.

"Thankfully is right. Alright, all of you. Head to the scanners," Jeremy said.

"Already found the tower for you. Just transfer us near it," I told him.

"Will do," Jeremy said as we went towards the scanners.

Me, Aelita, and Odd were the first ones on Lyoko. But I immediately had to summon my lightsabers to my hands and activate them because we were instantly attacked by hornets upon spawning in.

"Aw, great. Isn't this just dandy?" I questioned as I deflected lasers away from us.

"Keep them in place," Aelita said. I nodded and put one saber back on my waist before shooting out a torrent of purple lightning. Ever since that incident with the snow, my lightning was stuck on the color purple. Who would've thought that all it takes is a little grief to make you stronger.

"Have some of this!" Odd exclaimed as he fired arrows at hornets I stunned. Aelita also summoned one of her balls of energy and threw it at the last hornet as Ulrich and Yumi landed.

"Nice job," I said, stopping my lightning stream.

 _"Don't celebrate just yet. XANA's sending more monsters your way,"_ Jeremy said as I pressed to fingers to my forehead. All I had to do was focus my Force Sense a little bit more, and...

"Got them. Two tarantulas coming from both sides," I said, removing my fingers.

"How about we properly greet our guests?" Ulrich questioned as he drew his sword. I then put Aelita on my back.

"While you do that, I'll get her to the tower. I should be able to outrun our four legged friends," I said.

"Then get going," Yumi said. I nodded before speeding off. I held my saber in front of my face to deflect as I ran before making a giant leap over them. I easily cleared them. Child's play.

"Ha! See ya!" I exclaimed, giving the monsters a mock wave as I made it near the tower. Bad news though. A mega tank decided it was a good idea to guard the tower.

"Oh, perfect," I said as I moved to dodge the blast of the mega tank. "How are your blasts against these things?"

"I know two of them can destroy a mega tank blast, but you can easily dodge them," Aelita said.

"If you can do that, try throwing them down the center of the tank. Aim for the target if you can, but I have a feeling that you don't need to," I said, making her nod. I then stood on the tips of my toes before launching myself in the air. The mega tank then began charging for an attack.

"Now!" I exclaimed. Aelita jumped from my back and tossed four blasts from her hands as fast as she could down the center of the tank's middle. None of them hit the target, but pink electricity began to travel all around it. There was a moment of waiting and then it exploded. I landed around the same time Aelita did, I flashed her a thumbs up and a smile.

"Well, that solves that mystery," I said, standing up straight.

"Question is if it actually does take four shots every time," Aelita said.

"You think you can learn to shoot those things faster?" I asked.

"Possibly. Given..."

 _"Um, I hate to break up your plans for future combat, but mind shutting the tower off first?"_ Jeremy questioned.

"Of course your majesty," I said with a bow even though he couldn't see me do it. Aelita only rolled her eyes as she walked into the tower.


	33. Chapter 33 - Another Free Day

"Something wrong?" Aelita asked.

"I'm on edge," I said as I kept typing. I then grabbed the CD from her grasp and began typing.

"About what?" Aelita asked.

"William," I said simply as the program began to download.

"You mean what happened that one time XANA attacked?" Aelita asked, making me nod. "But we returned to the past. He doesn't have any memory of the situation. We know not to let him in the group under any circumstances."

"I know that. But that never stopped him before. He's stubborn. Stubborn to a fault. He gets wind of what we're doing, and he'll keep pressing. Just like he did the last time. I don't want him possessed and used as XANA's slave. The thought of it happening just worries me. It makes everything we're doing harder. If I can help avoid it, I will. If I have to frame him to get him expelled for the year, I'll do it. I just..." I felt a hand on my shoulder and took my hand off my forehead before turning around to look at Aelita.

"Stop worrying so much. Between stressing yourself out over this program you're trying to write, keeping William from being possessed by XANA, and balancing schoolwork and music making, you're going to die of stress before Jeremy does," Aelita said.

"I know, I know. It's a curse knowing too much about a situation. You know exactly what's going to happen, but you can't stop it. Well, there's no guarantee that you'll be able to stop it. Like XANA freeing himself from the Supercomputer. I know there's nothing I could've done about that," I said at Aelita opening her mouth. "Just using it as an example."

A beep of confirmation made me focus my attention back to the Supercomputer, and my put off look was replaced by a smile.

"Progress! Glorious, glorious progress!" I said gleefully as I started to type again.

"That's nice. Mind telling me what you've been working on?" Aelita asked.

"It's this program I've installed to go along with towers. Specifically ones we activate. The first time we tried to activate a tower, it ended badly because XANA was able to take it over. But now, with a slight rewrite of the code and some hard encryption, I think I may be able to keep him from doing that and we can fight him on even terms whenever he activates a tower," I said.

"You think you'll be able to pull that off?" Aelita asked.

"Maybe. So far, the coding has passed all the initial tests. Later, I want you and Jeremy to look it over. See if there's anything I may have overlooked. Double, triple check my work if you have to. If this works, then our problems can be lowered a considerable amount. Like, we can do all of the stuff XANA does when he possesses someone. The possibilities are endless," I explained.

"Remind me. I'll take a look," Aelita said. I grinned at her and nodded.

"Awesome," I said as I removed the CD. Then I blew out a puff of breath. "Whoo! That felt good to finish. This could help. Like, this could _really_ help. Did Jeremy ever talk about encrypting towers' code?"

"No, not at any point. I'm not sure if he thought it was possible. Or he may not have thought of it," Aelita said.

"Might've been the first one. I mean, figuring out how to activate towers was not easy to learn. I mean, I had you pull tons of data out of Sector Five when we had the chance, and even though it helped a lot, it was a still a difficult program. Encrypting it is just as hard, if not harder. I'm not even one hundred percent sure if it'll work. It passed all the initial tests, but there's no way to actually know if it'll work when it comes down to it," I explained, putting a hand on my chin.

"It'll work. I'm sure it will," Aelita said softly, causing my shoulders to relax.

"You have a relaxing voice. Makes things seem like things will be alright even when we're in the middle of an absolute shit show," I said.

"I need to. Otherwise you all would never relax," Aelita said.

"That's true. I've been working like crazy getting this program together. I know Jeremy's curious as to what I'm doing since he asked me about it, and I want to show it to him today so he can run a diagnostic along with you. I just want to make sure this is done right. It's better done right and slowly than quickly and wrong," I said, before closing the testing screen. "Enough of that. I get a migraine just thinking about all those numbers, encryptions, and security settings. Time for music."

"This is language I speak," Aelita said, making me laugh lightly while shaking my head. "Well, language I like speaking more."

"Of course it is," I said before pulling up the program and starting to work. I did love hearing everything come together. It was like an audio jigsaw puzzle, in a way.

"Do you ever think about it?" Aelita asked.

"Hmm?" I asked in a half distracted voice.

"What it would be like out on a stage, singing for a crowd like the Subdigitals," Aelita said.

"That's what you dream of?" I asked.

"Sometimes," Aelita said, looking away slightly.

"I thought about it once. Before I even met you all. It was just one fleeting moment. I had gotten into my music cause my headphones were in my ears and I was tuned out to the world. It's those moments where you really feel a song. Where it feels like you become part of the music. Like you understand what's going on," I said, remembering the thought.

"Only once? Why only once?" Aelita asked.

"Because it wasn't realistic," I said, continuing to type.

"What do you mean it wasn't realistic? You-"

"Are making music that belongs to other people," I interrupted. "They're not real here, but they're real where I come from. Even then, it's not just about that. I don't do well against pressure from crowds. I'm not great at singing. I can't dance. I'm not creative enough to make a song of my own. And there's no instrument that I know how to play. It's just not real. It's not for me. Even then, it didn't squash my desire to want to design games. That was something I definitely wanted to do. Only thing that I felt I was good at at the time. Games. Used to think about what life would be like if life was as simple as they were in games."

"You're not even that old. Why are you even thinking about stuff like that?" Aelita asked.

"I was always weird. I suppose imagining things could be as a simple as a video game is pretty weird. Not to mention very unrealistic. But game designer is what I wanted to do. Now that I'm here, the idea doesn't seem as appealing," I said, hands halting over the keys. But I managed to pull myself together and get the dejected feeling out of my system. "I'll figure it out. I'm telling you. I will."

"Just because you had one fleeting moment about it doesn't mean it has to stay as one," Aelita told. "You can work to achieve it. You can learn to sing. You can learn to dance. You can..."

"Aelita, that's you," I said softly. "That's not me."

"It doesn't have to just be me. Why are you so against this?" Aelita questioned.

"I'm not. I'm just being realistic here," I said. Aelita was silent for a moment before she spoke.

"Do you really believe that little in yourself?" she asked softly.

"I believe in myself when it comes to things I can realistically do. I'm fine with just making the music," I said.

"With the way you get excited over making it, I think you could have even more fun actually doing it yourself," Aelita said.

"Look, I'll think about it. Alright?" I said, more than anything to want to drop the subject.

"Alright. In any case, even if you can't sing, I want to know how the songs are supposed to be sung," Aelita said.

"You really want to hear me half yell the heavy metal ones? With my voice, that's not pleasant at all," I said.

"Number one, I haven't actually heard you sing, so I wouldn't know. Two, I'd rather pick and choose which ones I want to sing," Aelita said.

"As for your regular mixes?" I questioned.

"I mean, I'll definitely still use them. How could I not? They're mine, and I'm proud of how they turned out. But I can't deny that I love some of the stuff you had shown me. Many of the ones you called... I believe it was Nightcore?" Aelita questioned.

"They're basically real song, but changed up. I do love the change from the original version though. Millions do really," I said easily as I swapped disks from the port.

"So are you going to show me?" Aelita asked.

"At one point. Not now though," I said, grabbing multiple files and burning them on the CD. "I would prefer I had the actual singers who did the song on file. It's not necessarily doing the song justice if I'm doing them."

"Oh, just hush. I'm sure you can't do any worse than if Herb tried to do sing them," Aelita said.

"I honestly think the world would be better off without the song at all if that was the case," I said, making Aelita laugh.

"See? Set yourself at the lowest denominator, and you'll be amazing no matter what," Aelita said, making me laugh.

"Oh my God. It's amazing," I said, shaking my head.

"What?" Aelita asked.

"Your humor is so me now. It's scary almost," I told her.

"Think you've changed us all, to be honest. In different ways. The confidence boost was a nice thing to pick up. Then again, I'm hanging around someone as brash as you. If I managed to say the same with you as my friend, it'd be a miracle," Aelita said.

"Well, since you like saying nice things like that..." I said as I put another blank CD in the computer before handing her the one that was in there previously. "...here. Enjoy the beats."

"Wait, is every song you've made so far..."

"...on that CD? Yes. I've given up on my stubbornness to actually put the lyrics down digitally, so I should be able to send it to your computer. When I feel like doing it, I can show you how the songs go at least as far as vocals go," I said.

"And I'm sure you'll be better than you think," Aelita said.

"Yeah right," I said before taking the CD out once it finished burning and putting it in the case that I had. I then held two cases in my hands. One holding my encryption file for the towers and the other holding the music. Since previous experiences have told me that I should label my stuff, that's exactly what I did.

"Ok, that needs to be looked over later by you and Jeremy. As for the music, I need a break from sitting in this chair. My ass has fallen asleep from sitting in that chair for so long," I said, standing to my feet. "I need to go for a walk."

"Where are you heading?" Aelita asked.

"Wake up my body parts, get something to eat. I could also use something caffeine related because I'm sure the only person our age who is up as early as I got up on a weekend is Jeremy, and even he's not up," I said with a pointed look.

"Fair enough," Aelita said.

"Feel free to go sleep in if you want. I'll just stay up and get Jeremy to run over this program when he gets up. You can do it whenever," I said, heading towards the elevator.

"I'm fine. Is there room for one more?" Aelita asked.

"Always. I solemnly swear that I'll try not to eat all of the pizza," I said with a small smile as I raised a hand.

"Emphasis on 'try,'"Aelita said with finger quotes making me smirk.

"You're learning," I said as we headed towards the elevator.

"Can I ask you something?" Aelita asked once we stepped off the elevator.

"Anything," I said.

"What's your social security number?" she asked with a smirk.

"Oh, you cheeky girl. Ok, _almost_ anything," I said with a grin. Again, very weird how her humor was turning into the kind of shit I would say. I'd be lying if I said I didn't love it.

"If you turn out to be good with other aspects of music, do you think you'll follow up on it?" Aelita asked.

"Back on this subject?" I questioned. "If by some miracle that I'm good, then I might. Not gonna lie. The idea of learning how to play guitar interests me. There's a difference between pretending like you know how to play a sick guitar solo and actually knowing how to play one." The statement even surprised me briefly. Music wasn't a career that caught my attention very much, but some of the aspects were cool. Some, not all.

"Then I'll hold you to that," Aelita said with a nod.

"Now that I've done something, you have to promise me something," I said.

"What?" Aelita asked.

"If you get to a point where you're able to perform a song in front of a crowd, you sing one for that special guy in your life," I said with a smirk.

"You mean Jim?" Aelita asked rhetorically with a smirk.

"Ugh. Not an image I needed. You know what I mean," I said.

"What is that supposed to do?" Aelita questioned.

"In all of the history of dudes, nine times out of ten when a guy performs a song for a girl, he wins her. If the song is a nice one that she enjoys. It's why a lot of guys learn to play guitar in the first place if not for a music career. It's more than likely the idea can work backwards. I recommend you use something powerful though. Something meaningful. Either you write your own or pick one from my big ass library and I'll help you with it," I explained to her.

"Even though you can't sing?" Aelita questioned with a grin. I mirrored her expression.

"Even though I can't sing," I said as I held the door open for her. She walked in and I followed behind her. I just ordered one pizza and two drinks. Good enough. Also good thing that I always kept my wallet on me.

"What, you're not gonna order another five of them?" Aelita asked, making me give her a flat look.

"Not under the risk of you never letting me live it down Princess," I said, adjusting my chair. She giggled while I only rolled my eyes.

"Robert?" Aelita questioned.

"Hmm?" I asked.

"I know this isn't a subject you touch on often, but why do you never talk about your parents?" Aelita asked, making me sit still for a moment. I stared at the table for few moments while trailing my finger on it. "Robert?"

"That's not a subject I'm comfortable talking about," I said once I finally decided to answer.

"Oh," Aelita said flatly. "Since you had your family, I was kind of curious..."

"I'm going to stop you right there," I said bluntly. "Just because parents are there doesn't mean that they're parents that you want to have around. Parents that you respect. And I speak for all of the kids who have families like that. Like I said, I hate my dimension sometimes. I hate how fucked up it is compared to this place. Yeah, sure we don't homicidal AIs that like to take over the world, but we still have problems. And that's all I got to say about that subject."

 _"Isn't amazing how you can be smiling and having a good time one moment, then a bad subject is brought is brought up and poof. Good mood gone,"_ I thought as I leaned back in my chair.

"Here you are," one of the workers said, dropping a pizza in front of us.

"Thank you very much," I said with a smile and a nod. Then he gave me a subtle thumbs up as he gestured towards Aelita. I frowned at his bright smile as he walked away.

"Ok, people can be just as weird no matter what dimension you happen to be in," I said, taking two slices and putting them on my plate.

"That's just a part of human nature. Pass the parmesan," Aelita said. I passed it over to her before taking a bite of pizza. Then I quickly took another bite in succession.

"Pizza's for eating and enjoying. Not inhaling," Aelita said with a grin. I chuckled as some cheese stuck on the corner of my mouth and I grabbed it with my tongue.

"I can't help it. I'm hungry," I said somewhat defensively.

"When aren't you hungry?" Aelita asked, sprinkling the parmesan on the one slice she grabbed.

"Very few times," I said after I swallowed the bite I had eaten. "But us young men need our food."

"So do garbage disposals," Aelita said dryly before laughing when I lightly shoved her arm playfully.

"Watch yourself. I might just be hungry that I'll start gnawing at that strawberry top of yours," I said, making her hold her mouth from her laughter.

"I would imagine it wouldn't taste very good," Aelita said once her laughing started to subside.

"Oh, you never know. I wouldn't be surprised if your hair did taste like strawberries. Like on some cartoon shit," I said, taking a sip from my soda. After being up early as hell, it felt like the most refreshing things ever.

"Even by our standards, it's unrealistic. That would be kind of cool if it was though," Aelita said.

"If it did, you'd be bald once Odd caught a whiff of it," I said.

"And you wouldn't?" Aelita questioned with a raised brow.

"Loyal knights such as myself wouldn't dare hurt a hair on milady's head. Literally," I said, making her giggle again.

"That voice gets me every time," Aelita said, pointing a finger.

"Hey, I'm just that good," I said, leaning back in my chair before pulling out my phone and looking at a message from Ulrich.

"What is it?" Aelita asked, her look turning worried for a second.

"It's not XANA, or he would've immediately told us. He's just wondering where we are," I said, beginning to message him back.

"That's kind of valid since we don't go anywhere other than the school and the factory very often," Aelita said.

"Considering that we..." I cut myself off as I heard footsteps. I couldn't mention anything about XANA in public, so I smoothly went to take another bite of pizza. Aelita did the same. Good thing she caught on quick.

"Now..." I said as I swallowed the last of my pizza. "...how'd you do on that project yesterday?"

"Perfectly. Me and Jeremy thoroughly did our research on World War 1, and we aced it easily," Aelita said casually.

"As if that's surprising. Definitely glad that you two were volunteered to do the project and not the rest of us," I said before taking a sip of my drink.

"That's because you're too lazy to do anything," Aelita said, making me smile and raise a finger as I lowered my cup.

"No, because there are a lot of things I'd rather do. Like stick my head in the dirt," I said, making Aelita snort.

"That's not surprising," she said.

"Keep on Lita. Keep on," I said, making her laugh briefly before quieting.

"Alright, alright. I'm not going to follow up on your motivation," Aelita said, making me nod.

Silence is something I wasn't expecting. It seemed like the both of us talked for ages, so the silence felt sudden. My eyes seemed to mindlessly follow her movements. Don't know what caught my attention about her eating.

"You're staring," Aelita said while busying herself with taking a bite of pizza that she held carefully with two hands.

"I noticed. Maybe the concept of you stuffing your face is amusing to me," I said.

"Then if you were to put a mirror to yourself or look at Odd, it'd be a comedy show," Aelita said, making me chuckle a little.

"Yeah, I suppose that is kind of true, right? And now thanks to you all, eating seems to part of my bio," I said with a pointed look.

"Until you stop eating like a walking garbage disposal, we have no reason to change that," Aelita said.

"I'm afraid that'll never happen, so I'll make sure to add 'human garbage disposal' to my list of talents when I start applying for jobs. I'm sure that'll guarantee a position in a restaurant," I said dryly, making Aelita spit out part of her pizza on her plate from laughing. I passed her a napkin. "And you say Odd has bad table manners."

"That's because he's not laughing at your jokes when he does stuff like that, now is he?" Aelita questioned as she wiped her mouth.

"You know, most of the things I say are kind of part of common language in my dimension, so people take them seriously. They don't laugh," I said.

"Really? Well, that's no fun. For us, it's a daily laugh. Further proof why having you here is even better," Aelita said.

"As if I'm gonna go back. If I get to spend the rest of my life here, I have no complaints," I said, raising my hands carelessly while nodding in her direction. "None at all. Actually, I think I might actually complain if I _do_ get sent back. I mean, I don't have to deal with XANA, but I don't have friends like you all. It feels more like I'm living here."

"You mean that?" Aelita questioned.

"I do. To be honest, I can't really see myself returning back to my dimension. Not after this. Been thinking about it for a good bit, and this is what I decided on. I may not have been born here, but I feel like I belong here more, you know?" I said.

"What about your family?" Aelita asked.

"What about them?" I questioned. The bitterness was a bit unexpected, even for me. "Sorry. There are just some... feelings there. Not particularly good ones."

"Your own family?" Aelita questioned.

"It's not that they're bad people. Far from it. They're just not particularly great ones either. There's never been much love between us. How am I supposed to..." I said before shaking my head furiously. "Dammit. This was a subject I was looking to avoid. I don't like talking about this."

"It's understandable," Aelita said.

"You have the strangest ability to get people talk about crap they don't want to talk about," I said.

"Maybe it's a gift," Aelita said with a small smile.

"A curse, more like it," I said, taking another bite of pizza. "Do you press the others about their families?"

"I know Yumi's family," Aelita said.

"That doesn't answer my question," I said evenly.

"Well... no. Not yet," Aelita said.

"What's so interesting about my family?" I asked.

"Well, they aren't from this dimension. Kind of interesting to see how they do parenting styles," Aelita said.

"The dimension may change, but the methods stay the same," I said, finally finishing my second piece of pizza. I was eating a lot slower now. "I'd rather get going already."

"So are you taking the rest of this to go?" the server asked, seemingly coming out of nowhere. My eyes widened a little from how fast he got here, and Aelita had a similar expression on her face.

"Um... yeah. We will," I said, straightening up. He walked away and I looked at Aelita. "That was weird."

"Yeah. He was fast. Which isn't a staple of most service," Aelita said, straightening herself up. "Where to next?"

"Back to the school?" I asked.

"Yeah. We could see what the others are up to," Aelita said, draining the last of her drink.

"Here you are," the server said, handing us to go boxes and a bag.

"Thank you very much. It's not too much, but..." I said as I handed him ten dollars.

"This is a tip, right?" he asked.

"Yes. I paid at the desk," I said with a nod. Then he smiled.

"Appreciate you," he said, waving as he walked away. I chuckled a little.

"Now I understand what the attitude was all about. He wanted to ensure his tip," I said with a grin.

"That sounds about right," Aelita said as she helped me put pizza in the boxes. Then we put them in the bag. I went ahead and put the CDs in the bag as well before we walked out.

The trip back to the dorm was surprisingly quiet. It just left me alone with my thoughts, and just like my psychology, they went back to subjects I didn't want to think about. Like my family. Mom was about as social as a turtle, my dad was a deadbeat, and my siblings were... well, my siblings. Which is alright, really. The main problem lied with my parents.

There are a lot things you start to think about when the person you talk to the most is yourself. Just sitting on your bed thinking about why are things like this. Questions a child would ask. "Where did daddy go?" "What does mommy think of me?" "Where are we going?" Even now just thinking about the questions made me sick. Because they were questions I never asked, therefore never got an answer to. Maybe it's a good thing I didn't bother to ask. I would've just been lied to instead of figuring it out for myself. I'd rather not get an answer than be lied to and believe it for a long time until I managed to figure it out for myself.

Sure, there was nothing bad about our household, but it was nothing to write home about. Everyone had something they did and we went about our business. We never acted like a family. It was more like we were acquaintances living in the same household. It was like feeling like a stranger around your own family. Did I even really know them? I wanted to say that I did. I wanted to say that I could tell you anything about my mom or my two sisters, but if I honestly answered you, there wasn't much I could tell you.

There was just a hollow space between all of us; none of us talking or really understanding each other. I managed to talk more with Aelita and the others, people that were basically complete strangers when I first me them, in a few months more than I did with my own family in years. When you look at it from that angle, something is severely wrong. Communication was basically held during special events, important stuff that had to be said, and bad behavior in school. That was about it. And that was a depressing thought to be quite honest.

"Hey, do you reckon we should give some of this pizza to the others?" Aelita suggested, snapping me out of my thoughts.

"Yeah, I suppose we could," I said, managing to keep my voice even.

"Just make sure Odd leaves the others some," Aelita said, her grin wide. The look was infectious, and it kind of broke my depressing thoughts.

"Oh, but of course. If Odd was left in charge of the world's food supply, he'd probably decree that half of it goes to him," I said, the both of us laughing at the thought. I could definitely see Odd at a podium, ordering that half of the world's food supply would go to him. Given the opportunity, I bet you he would try it. Then again, he would be set for life as far as food goes.

"What are you two laughing about?" a voice suddenly asked. It was a voice that instantly wiped the smiles from both of our faces as we turned around to face Sissi.

"That's our business," I said icily. Sissi's eyes seemed to snap to the bag I was holding before looking back at us.

"Oh, I get it. You two went on a date," she said with a smirk on her face.

"If catching a bite to eat with one of your friends registers as a date, then you're even dumber than you look," Aelita said coolly, her expression impassive. Sissi's eyebrows furrowed in anger while my gaze shifted to Herb. I didn't know if this was a thing or if I was just a special case, but his face looked more and more punchable as the days went by.

"Watch it Ms. Einstein. Or..."

"Or what? What do you possibly have to threaten me with? Nothing. That's right. You really thought out this argument, didn't you?" Aelita said sarcastically. I couldn't help but smile at this new attitude Aelita had taken. Less prone to sit back and more prone to take the reins and defend herself. It was a sight I always liked to see.

"Leave," I said suddenly before Sissi could answer. "I have not forgotten what he did involving Emily, and the urge to punch him is very tempting. While I'm at it, what's to stop me from doing the same to you if you step out of line? I do believe in gender equality, you know." Sissi looked at Herb for a few moments as if judging him before gesturing for both Herb and Nicholas to follow her.

"Seems like you two don't need any help," Ulrich said, coming up to us.

"You sure no how to pick your timing," Aelita said, putting a hand on her hip.

"I kind of wanted to see how it would end. So..." Ulrich said, looking at me and looking at the bag I was holding. "...I see you have pizza."

"It's for everyone. We just got to get everyone together," I said, holding the bag up.

"Well, Jeremy's been in his room since after breakfast, Yumi's been with her parents, and Odd's been trying to find a date or something among that nature. I've just been wandering around for a few minutes," Ulrich told us.

"Well, I suppose the four of us can just enjoy pizza then. Come on. We'll head to Jeremy's dorm," I said, gesturing for him to follow us.

"You still trying not to bash Herb's head in?" Ulrich questioned.

"Oh, for sure. I'm trying to let it go, but I get pissed off when I think about it. Then again at the same time, I can't help but think sometimes that it just sped up something unavoidable. I mean, realistically, how long do you think she would've put up with my disappearing acts?" I questioned.

"Good point. I know it's not easy, but once XANA is done, you don't have to deal with stuff like that," Ulrich said, putting a hand on my shoulder.

"Besides," Aelita suddenly said, making both me and Ulrich look at her. "I have to say that any of these girls would be lucky to have you. And besides the disappearing acts, I'm sure Emily would agree that you were an awesome person."

"It's because I am an awesome person. Not the best at logic, but I do the best I can for everyone I care about. You all, more than anyone," I said, making the both of them smile.

"You were definitely a great addition to the team. Not all of us say it, but we just know it. I know you've told us that we would've let William in as a member of the team under normal circumstances, but you're still ten times better than him," Ulrich said.

"You're just saying that cause he has a thing for Yumi," Aelita said with a smirk, making him give her a bored look before turning back to me.

"What if I didn't know about what XANA would be planning?" I questioned.

"You'd basically be nine times instead of ten," Ulrich said.

"I definitely agree with that," Aelita said, making me grin.

"You people are the best. I've never had friends like this. I feel as if I would do anything for you all. Having friends like this is what makes all of this worth it. The late nights, the constant fighting, all of it. It's all worth it," I said with a smile.

"Couldn't agree more," Aelita and Ulrich said at the same time. I put a hand around each of their shoulders while smiling widely. Oh, how I loved these days of no XANA.

"We're infiltrating. Put your hands up and step away from the computer," I said, barging into Jeremy's room while having my hands over my mouth to make it seem like I was speaking through a loudspeaker. Jeremy immediately did that with a panicked expression on his face, but it quickly shifted into annoyance when he saw it was us. The three of us started laughing to the point where we were barely on our feet.

"That was not funny. I thought we were actually found out," Jeremy said, his voice sounding as annoyed as he looked.

"Ah, lighten up Jeremy," Aelita said lightly while still smiling. "Besides, we have something that makes everything better."

"Pizza!" I exclaimed while raising the bag.

"You're forgiven," Jeremy said with a grin. All of us only smiled wider.

"That's the spirit," I said as I took out the to go bags of pizza. Then we all sat in a circle: Aelita on my left, Ulrich on my right, and Jeremy in front of me. Then I remembered something.

"Also, when you get a chance, run a diagnostic on this program later," I said, handing him the disk for the program. "I've done a few checks on it myself, but I want you and Aelita to take a look at it. It might help with dealing with XANA in the real world."

"Whatever it is, I'm sure it's phenomenal," Jeremy said, making me smile wide.

I stuck my hand to the one of the boxes of pizza, but I felt one hand on top of mine. I gazed up, and it was Aelita's. Right there, it felt like some cheesy moment in a show so I grabbed a piece and got my hand out of there as fast as possible. Couldn't deny that my cheeks felt considerably warmer though. Getting attracted to someone else was not what I needed right now. Especially since the person in question was already attracted to someone else.

"How long have you been up?" Jeremy asked. I snapped out of my thoughts and focused.

"Since five in the morning. Was working on more music. I've finished about a hundred and fifty songs. And I got like, three hundred and fifty more still memorized. And Lyoko is the only explanation I have as to why I can remember over five hundred fucking songs," I said, taking a bite of pizza.

"Either that or you have a photographic memory," Jeremy said, grabbing a slice of pizza.

"I'm not lucky enough for that one. It'd be nice though," I said once I swallowed.

"So you've been up since five. You got up with him?" Ulrich asked Aelita.

"No, I arrived about three hours later. Was surprised to see that he got up three hours earlier. And I thought I was up early. I just had plans to take a look at some of the stuff he completed and he was already there. Thanks, for that," Aelita said, giving me a pointed look.

"I wanted to get an early start. I knew it was insane when I did it. Didn't stop me though," I said with a shrug.

"Yeah, nothing ever does," Aelita said, making me have to hide my smirk behind taking another bite of pizza. Ulrich looked at me with a raised eyebrow, and I swallowed before mimicking the gesture.

"What?" I asked.

"Five in the morning?" Ulrich questioned.

"That's what I said," I said with a nod.

"We do enough of that because of XANA, and you did it _willingly._ I'm still trying to wrap my head around that. What, are you secretly an insomniac? Is not having sleep a hobby now?" Ulrich questioned, making Aelita and Jeremy laugh.

"No. I just like making the songs," I said evenly.

"I realize that. But it's the weekend. There's time for that in the afternoon. I think Aelita's gotten you addicted," Ulrich said with a grin.

"Probably. I have no regrets. At least until I fall asleep while I'm walking in the middle of the street," I said evenly.

"'Well, I suppose I should head over to...'" Ulrich said before falling back and pretending to snore. The three of burst out laughing at the sight, and now the image of me doing that was in my mind.

"It's nice to have a day off. No school and no XANA," I said, still grinning.

"Yeah. It is," Aelita said with a wide smile.

"No arguments here," Jeremy said.

"Nor here," Ulrich said.


	34. Chapter 34 - On Equal Footing

Episode References: Double Trouble

* * *

"Nu uh. Not happening," I said, shaking my head.

"Same here. I've been huddled with Robert and Odd studying for this exam. I need a decent grade," Ulrich said, crossing his arms.

"Not to mention that all of us missing would be sure to raise some eyebrows," Odd threw in.

"And the issue with the principal would be sure get me expelled," Yumi said.

"Some adventurers you are," Jeremy said.

"Hey, you're always the one who tells us that we should be careful. Well, waiting after school is the most careful course of action. I'm definitely glad you've got the code down, but a little longer won't hurt. Lunch is the perfect time to do it," I said, making everyone nod in agreement.

"Ok, go ahead. I'll meet you in the lunchroom. I forgot some stuff," Jeremy said, walking towards a door.

"He sure was eager to get us to try the code. Even eager enough to skip out on a test," I said, looking at the door he just walked out of.

"Well, he has been working on it for a while. Ever since you told him it was important. But there was a lot information we had to get beforehand so that he could get the data needed to finish it," Aelita reminded me.

"True. Anyway, all we have to do is wait until the test is finished and then we can see it works. I think only one of us should go at a time. Just in case the code doesn't work and something goes awry," I said. "I don't mind doing it. At least I know the rest are you are on standby in case things go wrong."

"It also wouldn't hurt to run some extra checks just in case a miscalculation was made. It's happened before. With all of us, in fact," Aelita said, making me nod in agreement.

"You three are the brainiacs of the group," Odd said with a grin.

"Then we should be able to get this test done fairly fast. How about you and Ulrich? You think you'll do a good job?" I asked.

"Hopefully. We spent hours studying with you last night," Ulrich said.

"And you even managed to get me to study. If I make anything less than a C, I blame you," Odd said, making me roll my eyes.

"Oh, put a sock in it. You'll be fine. You're smarter than you think," I said as the bell rung. "Moment of truth. Let's get it."

The test went by surprisingly flawlessly. Odd, unlike most times, wasn't asking Jeremy for answers. Ulrich seemed fine, and Aelita of course, was working on the test easily enough. I was glad for the quiet, and Jeremy was the first one to finish. I then handed in my paper almost a minute after.

"Very good you two. You're both dismissed," Mrs. Hertz said, making the both of us nod.

"If you want, I can test the code for you while the others are still taking the test. It would be nice to have some good news ready when the others finish. Or potentially bad news," I said in an as a matter of fact tone.

"Yeah, I suppose that would be a good idea. We'll head to the factory," Jeremy said. I nodded before my phone rang. I frowned when I saw that it was the number that was dialed from the factory. I think this would need a more careful approach. "Give me a moment. For some reason, the Ishiyamas are calling me. Hello?"

 _"Robert, listen. I know that you might be able to piece it together, but XANA has created a clone of me from a polymorphic specter,"_ Jeremy said.

"You want me to tell Yumi what?" I questioned, pretending to be on the phone with Yumi's parents. I looked at the Jeremy that was next to me, and he narrowed his eyes slightly. I tried not to give a physical reaction. Now I was paying attention to the little things about him now.

 _"Good, you know. We fought at the factory, and he tried to drown me, but I survived,"_ Jeremy said.

"Let her know to be home an hour sooner. Got it," I said evenly.

 _"I don't know what he's planning, but you have to stop him,"_ Jeremy said.

"Alright, alright. I got it. I won't forget," I said, using hand gestures to emphasize my point.

 _"Just act accordingly,"_ Jeremy said.

"Alright. She'll know when school is over. Yes. Bye Mrs. Ishiyama," I said, hanging up the call with an impatient look. I then turned to 'Jeremy.' "Shall we?"

"Please. We've wasted enough time," XANA Jeremy said impatiently before we started going towards the factory.

"So what was the problem for transferring us? The different data stream or the different layers of coding required?" I asked. I still had to act like I didn't know he really wasn't Jeremy.

"Is it really important as long as I got it?" XANA questioned rhetorically.

"I was just curious. I know the code has been giving you a headache for a while," I said evenly.

"Let's test it first. If it works, I'll show you what I did," XANA told me, making me nod. That kind of confirmed my suspicions. I knew he would've been more or less eager to tell me how he figured out what he was missing, not dismiss it almost immediately.

Soon as we ended up on the elevator, I tried to remain as calm as I could. I knew as soon as he saw Jeremy in the chair, either he would attack me or try to fool me into attacking the real Jeremy. No point in testing which one he would do.

As soon as the elevator started to open, I grabbed the specter by the head, threw him against the wall, and bashed my knee into his face. He fizzled black for a little before falling over. Then I hit the elevator and dropped him back down, and Jeremy deactivated it halfway down.

"Thanks. How'd you know, if you don't mind me asking?" Jeremy asked.

"I had to pay attention to his attitude. Sort of compare it to what I know about you. The dead giveaway was when I asked him what was the hardest part about getting the code down, and he just shrugged me off. I know that's definitely not like you," I explained to him.

"And you would be right. Speaking of which, what code?" Jeremy asked.

"Direct transfer into Sector Five," I said, making Jeremy suddenly grin.

"That's because I did finish it," he said, making my eyes widen.

"Seriously?" I questioned.

"Yeah. I did actually manage to finish it last night, but I do need to run some diagnostics before we try it. I fell asleep before I was able to do that," Jeremy said.

"Then we'll do that later on today. For now..." I said, pulling out my phone and dialing Aelita's number first.

"Yeah?" she asked.

"XANA's attacking. I locked down the elevator cause I trapped his specter in there, so you'll have to come in through the side door. Get Odd and Ulrich there. I'll call Yumi," I told her.

"Ok," she said before I immediately cut the call off and started to dial Yumi's number.

"Yeah?" Yumi asked in a whisper.

"XANA's attacking. You won't be able to get in through the elevator because I trapped the specter in there. You'll have to use the side entrance," I told her.

"At least you know how to pick your timing. Just got out of the dark room," Yumi said.

"Then get here as quick as you can," I said, shutting off the call.

"Alright. Now we all know that this method never buys us too much time. So..." I cut myself off as I looked towards the elevator with a shocked look as I saw it was moving. "You didn't cut the elevator back on, did you?"

"Of course not," Jeremy said.

"Cut it back on. If he's doing what I think he's doing, it should short it out," I said, moving my hand in circles rapidly. Jeremy nodded and began to type furiously. I could hear the elevator spark and there was a noticeable bang. Then I could hear whistling before there was a loud crash that made both of us jump.

"Um... I think the overload may have broke the gears instead of just shorting out the elevator," I said awkwardly.

"Well, we'll have to return to the past just to repair that unfortunately," Jeremy said before waving a dismissive hand. "Hopefully it should keep him under wraps. If I keep the doors sealed, he'll be hard pressed to get out."

"You want me on Lyoko?" I asked.

"Not yet. I want to wait on the others. I've already located the tower in the mountain region, and I can run some more diagnostics on the Sector Five code," Jeremy said, typing on the computer.

"What about that program I gave you? You and Aelita double checked it, right?" I asked.

"Yes, we did. You did an excellent job on it, and we checked every nook and cranny. You didn't miss anything. We can try it today, if you want," Jeremy said, making me nod.

"Do it. If this day ends like we want, we'll have two achievements done in one day," I said.

"Implementing the program into our active towers now," Jeremy said typing as the computer beeped and the image of a tower was brought up. I put my hand on the back of the chair and watched closely as the program began to implement itself.

"If this works, we'll be able to combat XANA on even terms. Not get thrown around as much. It'll be nice," I said with a grin.

"That would definitely be a good thing. Someone besides you will be able to combat the people he possesses or makes specters out of," Jeremy said.

"I know that'll be a breath of fresh air for you. If you want, I can show you how to fight a little bit better. Cause while you'll have the same speed and powers as them, it's no match for experience," I told him.

"I'll think about it. Hopefully, I won't need to be amplified at any point," Jeremy said. "Besides, if we amplify you or Ulrich, I'm sure we'll have nothing to worry about."

"Don't rely too much on it. Things can always happen," I warned.

"I know. I'm just saying I don't want to have to set time aside if I don't need to," Jeremy said before a beep sounded. "Ok. Program's been implemented. Now to try it."

"Activate a tower, and let's see if this works," I told him. Jeremy began typing and then hit the enter key with in a way that suggested finality. Then I saw it: a black ooze began to work its way from underneath our feet and it found its way into my mouth. Not the most pleasant entry way, but my back arched from the force on the thing entering me, which sounded so wrong before I suddenly jerked forward and I was looking at the ground. Now it felt like there was more than one person in my body.

"Robert?" Jeremy asked.

"This definitely doesn't feel like I thought it would," I said, turning over my hands and looking at them.

"But you definitely feel different?" Jeremy asked hesitantly before getting up and slowly heading towards me.

"Yeah, I do. Hopefully XANA won't change that so it means bad news ," Jeremy said.

"Now, I wonder how this..." I gestured my hand in a direction, and a torrent of lightning shot out just like XANA with it being a dark purple in color. I then looked at my hand with a smile on my face.

"Oh, yeah. This'll be fun," I said with a grin. I just noticed that my voice had a small echo to it now.

"I have to say that our definitions of 'fun' are diametrically opposed," Jeremy said in an as-a-matter-of-fact tone.

"I get to kick the shit out of XANA's minions without being at an unfair advantage. This will be fun for me," I said with a grin before the grin quickly disappeared. "Let's just hope that program I wrote keeps him from taking over the tower."

"It should. It was really solid work," Jeremy said, making me smile.

"Thanks," I said as I saw the side door open. In the blink of an eye, I was already over there and Aelita was the one I had suddenly come nose to nose with. She recoiled at my sudden appearance.

"Whoa!" she exclaimed.

"Sorry. Just thought it might have been the specter. Did you see him?" I asked.

"That's why Ulrich and Odd are down there," Yumi told me.

"I think I shall go help them," I said idly before running off. I was running a lot faster than normal, but I could see that XANA's specter that was still in the form of Jeremy was trying to keep up with both of them.

"Intermission bitch!" I exclaimed as I hit the specter with a flying kick that made it seem like I was actually flying. (Also, roll credits)

"Wow," Ulrich said as the specter flew back quite a few meters.

"Jeremy's got a tower active. It only amplifies my ability to kick ass," I said with a grin before jerking my heard towards the side entrance. "Go ahead and help the others with the tower. I got Jeremy's doppelganger."

"Shouldn't be a problem for you now," Ulrich said, patting me on the shoulder. A mischievous grin crossed my face as I saw XANA's specter dust itself off.

"Step right up! Step right up!" I said as I had my hands at my side and slowly spun on my heel. "Which poor sap is unfortunate enough to face a tower amplified version of me? You there! The guy who looks like one of my best friends! How about you?"

XANA's specter gave off a growl before his hands charged with electricity and he shot the bolt at me. Summoning a bolt of my own, I threw it out to intercept the one he flung in my direction. An expression of considerable effort crossed his face as he intensified his power. I tried to do the same, but his lightning was more powerful than mine. So I was forced to quickly dodge to the side when it got too close.

"Ok, so that's not a fight I can win," I said before imbuing my hands with electricity. Both of my arms had electricity dancing around them as I summoned a more concentrated ball of energy. "Let's try something else."

I then jumped in the air and began to fall towards the ground while the hand that had the ball of electricity in front of it was ahead of me. XANA jumped to get out of the way, and a shockwave that was powerful enough to crack the ground was the result. But the force of the energy was enough to make XANA slide back a meter or so. But it only made him look windswept. And angrier, by the looks of him.

Summoning similar balls of energy to his hand, he began to toss them at me like they were simple tennis balls. I tried batting them away, but they exploded on contact. I was sent flying, but I was able swiftly recover and flip to land on my feet when I was close to the ground. My shirt had been burned in multiple locations, but my skin was relatively unharmed.

But I had to immediately dodge to the side to avoid getting hit by more he was sending my way. As far as energy levels went, XANA definitely had the advantage. I just needed to get close.

Jumping away from the extra blasts he sent my way, I sent a bolt of lightning his way which was promptly dodged, but I had also sent a second one towards the left, which was his right. I noticed that he preferred dodging to his right as opposed to the left, which was all I had to go on as far as reading him. But the read was spot on and my lightning hit him dead center. In seconds, I had closed the distance and now it was a matter of hand to hand combat.

I moved my foot up high like I was in a crane position to dodge his blow to my knee before using the leg I had raised to send out a number of rapid kicks. He readily blocked them, but I flipped on one of the kicks and hit him in the back of the head with it. Thanks to my new speed, I was on my feet before he could even do anything and already had already began to press offensive. But I was forced to hold back a blast he had ready to fired at me. I strained to hold the energy back with one hand before I charged an electrically infused fist and sucker punched him into a pillar.

 _"God, that felt good,"_ I thought as I saw with some satisfaction that the blow had definitely hurt him.

"It seems that you would have made a better form to take," the specter finally said as it managed to get to its feet.

"I'm flattered. Really, I am," I said dryly. The words were barely out of my mouth before he started sending blasts at me. But one hit the ground in front of me, which caused me to slide back a few meters. But XANA was in front of my face and hit me with a kick to my lip. My head only reeled back instead of him sending me flying which would've happened if I wasn't powered like this.

I then threw a punch, but he grabbed it, which I had expected. After all, fighting him so many times with no powers always made me have to be one step ahead of him. So once he grabbed my punch, I aimed a kick at his knee like he had done to me earlier. Only he didn't see that one coming and I made him fall into a kneel. I then grabbed his shoulders before punching him in the face to the point where my hand was a blur before he was sent flying by a final, powerful uppercut.

"Inferior being!" I exclaimed with a grin. I couldn't resist. (Take a guess as to what I'm referencing)

He quickly recovered by throwing an electric tesla at the ground, launching himself at me. I flipped back, but he already started coming back at me with fast and furious punches. The enhanced reflexes and speed really came into play here as, for the first time, I was able to keep up. What's more, I was finally able to counterattack.

Grabbing both of his arms when he tried to punch me, I started headbutting him repeatedly in the face before his foot tried to find its way to my nuts. My eyes were wide as I had barely managed to use my foot to deflect the sure to be painful blow before I jumped and dropped kicked him at the elevator door, sending him through it.

"Do not touch the merchandise," I said as I blew out a puff of breath from how close that was. Lyoko amplified or no, that would've hurt like hell. I guess all guys have a reflex when it comes to someone aiming to kick them in the nuts.

Then XANA came back at me with renewed force, but I could see that he was a little slower now. Good news for me as I was able to weave between his attacks before punching him rapidly in the chest. It was like I had suddenly become Ip Man from the speed of them, and I could tell they hurt because my fists were infused with electricity. I then punched him twice in the face with each fist and hit him with a palm strike in the chest next before finishing it with a roundhouse kick to the face.

 _"_ _Who knew the thrill of battle was so amazing?"_ I thought, now visibly smiling as I tried to come down from the high of this fight. Well, when the fight was more fair. I noticed that his specter had difficulty getting up. Where as XANA had the advantage in his energy related powers, I outclassed him in hand to hand. Maybe that's because I had gotten used to fighting him at a disadvantage, and now that we were on equal terms, it was that much easier.

Then I noticed that during XANA's struggle to get up, he straight up fell to the ground while immobile before disappearing into the murky black substance that had almost immediately evaporated. Seconds later, the familiar blinding white began to take my vision.

* * *

"Alright, I'm in the scanner," I told Jeremy.

 _"Alright,_ _I'm_ _going to transfer you now,"_ he said right before the scanner doors closed. The familiar feeling of being scanned was the first thing I registered. Of course, that was the first thing anyone register upon being scanned to Lyoko. But it felt slightly different this time. It was almost unnoticeable, but it was a small shift that I felt. It was small, but it was there.

Upon transferring, I immediately closed my eyes as I landed. And when I opened them, I was on the elevator that the Scipio transporter always took us to. I smiled widely.

 _"The countdown has begun! Robert, any problems?"_ Jeremy asked.

"None at all. It was a success," I said. I heard cheers on the other end, and knew the others could hear me as well.

 _"That's excellent news,"_ Jeremy said, his smile showing through his voice.

"We may as well get the others in here. We may as well take advantage of the fact that we have a Sector Five trip already going," I told him.

 _"Agreed. I'll transfer the others as fast as I see if you can get that countdown first,"_ Jeremy told me.

"Consider it done," I said before dashing off as fast as I could. Two wins for us. That equaled more bad news for XANA.

* * *

A/N: Let me go over my logic for the tower program. Now, many times in the past XANA has done many things. Abuse the return to the past function, shut off the scan for him, etc. All of which Jeremy made programs to counter. And more times than not, they work. So what's to stop him from creating a similar encryption for him activating towers so that everyone can be on an even playing field? Sort of my logic behind the idea of the program, and I would like to think it makes sense. Hope you enjoyed that fight scene as much as I did writing it.


	35. Chapter 35 - Digital Downfall

Episode References: Final Round

* * *

" _What to do... what to do..."_ I thought to myself as I laid on my bed. I wanted to take a break on making music. My ass can only take so much sitting down. Odd and Ulrich were at some skateboarding thing, Jeremy and Aelita were doing some more research, and Yumi was with her parents. That gave me a day to myself, which I hadn't quite gotten used to yet.

 _"Not gonna lie. The idea of learning how to play guitar interests me."_ I frowned as I thought of that. I know I had told Aelita that, but I didn't expect to actually want to spend some time doing it. At least any time soon.

"Where would I even get a guitar?" I said aloud in thought. It either involved spending money, which I was hesitant to do unless I was absolutely one hundred percent that I wanted to spend money on it. Which was not the case. Or I snuck into the music room. The second one didn't seem very appealing if I got caught. Then again, who would be in the music room during a free day? I was hoping no one.

Shaking my head, I stood to my feet before I walked out of my room and down to the music room. Before I went to go picking locks, I had to check if the door was actually open. I turned the knob, and it was open. I briefly froze in place when I saw the teacher was actually there. Well, this was awkward.

"Certainly never expected to see anyone here considering the circumstances. What can I do for you, Mr. Morgan?" Mrs. Smith asked me. (Just made up a name)

"Well, it's... I'm trying to try an instrument?" I said, my tone somewhat questioning.

"If you plan on breaking something, I will let you know now..."

"No, no. It's nothing like that. I'm just curious," I said.

"Well, since you do have free time, I have no reason to refuse. Make sure to clean off whatever you use, and do not break the item or else you'll have to pay for it," Mrs. Smith said, making me nod. "So what are you attempting to learn? Trumpet? Tuba? Triangle?"

"All excellent suggestions, but I was thinking more along the lines of a guitar?" I said.

"Ah. Of course kids your age would be interested in such a thing," Mrs. Smith said, walking over to a closet. I didn't miss the small roll of her eyes. She then put a key into a lock and took a guitar out. I was surprised that it was just that easy. Just walking in and asking. That's what I get for overthinking stuff.

As soon as I grabbed it, it was strange how I knew where to put my fingers. Frowning slightly, I idly began strumming the chords to test how each of them worked. It was like a puzzle I was doing my best to try and figure out. What did what. What combination of strings made certain melodies. I also found it kind of disappointing that Lyoko knowledge seemed to make learning this faster, and I don't know why. Maybe it was the fact that I wanted to be able to learn something myself without needing the aid of intelligence I gained from just being here. It felt kind of cheap; a feat less proud to be of.

 _"Hands here, and here..."_ I thought as I adjusted where I had my hands placed as I looked at the guitar. This was so weird. Me playing a guitar. Well, slowly learning to play one.

I spent a good couple of hours just trying to get a feel for all of the chords and what they did, what sounds they made, how they connected with one another. Even if I did seemingly know how to play the instrument, it was still a learning experience. Just taking my time, enjoying the feel of the instrument, figuring out what did what. And that, all in all, was fairly satisfying.

"Hmm..." I said softly, lightly moving my fingers down the fretboard. I messed with the tuning mechanism, and played a chord. I then strummed the strings and a light tune played, making me smile softly. This was fun. It didn't seem as much of a stupid and very spontaneous idea that was spurred on by Aelita's insistence that I could have fun with a more direct involvement in music. It felt more like I was doing this because I liked it.

"Do you even need anyone to teach you anything? You seem to be picking up the basics on your own," Mrs. Smith suddenly said, making me jump.

"Well, I guess not. I mean, I've always been a fast learner," I said, avoiding eye contact. She looked at me with a slightly raised brow, which made me feel like I was a subject being analyzed.

"So it seems. Well, continue. Feel free to stay. I, however, am going out for lunch. Touch anything you're not supposed to touch, and you will regret it. Got it?" Mrs. Smith said.

"Got it. Besides I'm not exactly curious as to what goes on behind locked doors," I told her. That wasn't always true, but in this case, it was.

She only nodded before grabbing her keys and walking out of the room. I sighed, and even more than before, I started to wonder how I ended up here in the music room with a guitar on a day where I could've done anything. Go into town, talked with Ulrich and Odd at their skateboarding thing, but I'm here. Out of all places.

Before I could try anything else, I dug my phone out of my pocket as it was ringing and put it against my ear while I laid the guitar down gently. Unfortunately, I knew what the situation was.

"Yeah?" I asked.

 _"XANA attack,"_ Aelita said simply. I sighed. Being called from the factory phone was always bad news.

"Had an uneasy feeling. Be there in a minute," I said before placing the guitar over on a table and rushing out. Most days, there was no such thing as a free day. Either we had school and/or we had to deal with XANA. Would the bastard take holidays off? That'd be nice. Granted, he did give us the summer, but that was besides the point.

Besides Aelita, I was the only one in the lab. I looked around as I figured Jeremy would at least be here.

"Where are the others?" I asked.

"You were the first one I called, and you do run pretty fast," Aelita said.

"Not what I meant. I thought you were working on something with Jeremy?" I asked.

"I was. Extra tests on the abilities of the activated towers. Until Milly and Tamiya showed up," Aelita said.

"Don't tell me they were snooping around _again?"_ I questioned in disbelief.

"No. Apparently, Jeremy had agreed to be filmed to see what he did on a daily basis," Aelita said.

"Knowing Jeremy, one of two things could've happened. He never agreed to such a thing and just didn't think he could tell them no. Or he probably just agreed to get them off his back while he had some work to do and forgot," I explained.

"That sounds about right. Or there's the possibility he knew they would become even more annoying if he just told them no," Aelita said.

"There's also that. Because those two are annoying. But that's besides the point. What's the deal with the tower?" I asked, putting a hand on the chair as I leaned in and looked at what she had found so far. Judging by what I saw, he didn't activate a tower.

"Well, um..." I could hear her clear her throat before speaking. "XANA's attacking the Core of Lyoko again."

"Of course he can't give it a break. But unlike a tower, this can't wait. Transfer me now," I told her.

"Don't worry. We're here," Ulrich said, him and Odd walking out of the elevator.

"Perfect timing," I said with a nod of approval. "What about Yumi?"

"Stuck watching Hiroki. She needs to find a way to get out," Aelita told me.

"We may be able to make do without her. Just get us on Lyoko. You handling things from here should make things far easier," I told her, making her nod. Then me, Odd, and Ulrich ran towards the scanners. Stepping inside, I was fully prepared get on Lyoko, but I could hear an exclaim from Odd. My eyes widened as I saw him in front of the scanners. But I couldn't get out before the doors closed.

Landing in the Sector Five elevator, I immediately focused my attention on what just happened.

"Aelita, something's happened. Odd didn't get onto Lyoko because someone pulled him back," I told her.

"I think I can answer that question," Ulrich said bitterly. I turned towards him, and my eyes widened.

"Care to explain?" William asked me. The expression on my face immediately became distasteful, bordering on barely restrained anger.

"Explain? I don't need to explain anything. What I do know is that you have to get off Lyoko. _Now,"_ I said firmly.

"What do you mean?" William said, spinning his giant sword. "Whatever you're doing, I'm a part of now."

"That's the problem. You can't be a part of this. It's a great risk to everyone here," I told him as the elevator stopped. "Aelita, can you get him out?"

 _"No, I can't. While I have the specific coding to dematerialize all of you, William's coding is different. Now I could try the code, but it could end with him getting lost forever. You can devirtualize him yourself, but you'll have to focus on that later. Right now, we don't have much time before Sector Five is locked off. And right now, the survival of Lyoko is at stake. Focus on making sure we can actually stop XANA before trying,"_ Aelita explained to me, making me stomp my feet in frustration. Then I looked at William, my expression deadly.

"We'll finish this later," I hissed before running off in a Force Sprint. I knew I had to move fast. Otherwise, Lyoko was screwed.

 _"Can't believe this... I need to move fast before the Scyphozoa shows up,"_ I thought as I ran as fast as I could. I leaped over a pillar that was rising with a spin before jumping towards the switch and hitting the switch. I breathed a sigh of relief.

 _"Good thing you're fast. You had thirty seconds,"_ Aelita told me.

"That's the least of our problems right now," I said bitterly as I turned towards William and Ulrich, who were catching up. "Now that..."

I was cut off from having to duck a laser blast headed in my direction. I looked over and saw Creepers were showing up. I sincerely hoped they did me a favor and devirtualized William for us.

"Great," Ulrich said, drawing his swords.

 _"Odd'll be there soon_ ," Aelita told us.

"And not soon enough," I said before drawing my sabers and throwing them. Four Creepers were killed with the throws before I jumped in the air and hit them all with a torrent of lightning. "Take em out!"

William was the first one to go forward as he ran forward and swung his blade horizontally, launching a wave of energy that instantly killed two that were lined up together.

"This is fun!" he exclaimed with a wide smile.

"This isn't a game," I told him, my tone irritated as I sliced another Creeper in half.

"Sure feels like one," William said, still smiling.

 _"This is such a joke,"_ I thought bitterly. Then I could feel some energy in my hands. I briefly looked at it, and when I flicked my hand, my saber launched far too far to where it impaled itself in the wall.

"More evolution?" I questioned aloud, looking at my hand as I called my saber back to me. "Not complaining."

"Of course you wouldn't," Odd said as he caught up to us.

 _"Get over the wall!"_ Aelita suddenly exclaimed. Looking at William, I grabbed him and pushed him forward.

"Move!" I yelled as I ran to get over the wall.

"But more of those things have shown up," William said with a point.

"We won't have to deal with them if you get over here," Ulrich said, stepping over the slowly rising platform while Odd was already over it. I groaned.

 _"Oh, well. Better to go ahead and get it over with,"_ I thought, launching one of my sabers at William's back. Unfortunately, he seemed to have seen my saber coming and he raised his blade just in time to bat it away. It instantly flew back to my hand.

"What are you trying to do?" William asked.

"Devirtualize you. If you don't want to listen, then you're going back to the human world where you're not under risk of becoming XANA's slave and being an asset in ruining everything we're trying so hard to accomplish," I told him, my tone almost angry. Actually, forget almost. It _was_ angry.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Slow down. What do you mean?" William asked.

 _"Robert! Now!"_ Aelita exclaimed. I looked behind me and the wall was halfway up. I then looked towards William.

"I'll boost you. Just move," I said, running over to the wall. He nodded and when I held my hand out, I put a little of my recently acquired Force energy into my boost, and he managed to sail over the wall. I did the same and put force into my jump so I could leap over the wall and landed with a flourish.

"Nice," William said.

"Thanks," I said before looking over at where the core was. I could see it was coming under heavy fire. "There's no time for this."

"I couldn't agree more," Ulrich said as he started running towards the core. Odd was on all fours, and I immediately went into a Force Sprint. Holding my sabers at my side, I leaped in the air and came down on a Creeper while it was in the middle of charging a shot. The one next to it focused its attention on me, but I forced my hand out, and like I hoped, the Creeper was launched against the wall. I immediately threw my saber at it and destroyed it as I continued forward.

"Aelita, have you found that devirtualization code yet?" I asked as I slashed another Creeper.

 _"No, but we've got bigger problems. A tower has been activated in each of the Sectors,"_ Aelita said.

"Four towers? Why's he being so aggressive?" Ulrich exclaimed from over at his corner as he impaled a Creeper.

"I don't know, but it can't be good," I said, throwing my sabers to Creepers that were up on higher positions.

 _"Jeremy's here,"_ Aelita suddenly said.

"Then get onto Lyoko. We move fast, we should be able to deactivate those towers relatively quickly. And as much as I hate to admit it, we need more numbers. Hold off on that devirtualization code," I told her.

 _"Are you suggesting..."_

"I don't like it either, but XANA's giving us no choice at this point. He's making us put Lyoko on the line. Maybe if..." I cut myself off and grunted. My lack of focus nearly caused me to miss my deflection. I then hardened my resolve and pushed the Creeper off the edge.

 _"I'm sending Aelita towards you. Yumi just got here as well. I'll see if I can find that devirtualization code in the meantime,"_ Jeremy said.

"Don't bother. As much as I hate to admit it, we need all the help we can get," I told him somewhat grimly.

 _"Are you suggesting..."_

"We keep him in here? It's not like we have much of a choice. Four towers Jeremy. _Four._ We're going to need help," I told him as Odd blasted the last Creeper with a laser arrow.

 _"Alright. I need all of you head towards the Sector 5 archives. You'll exit out through the south pole. Ulrich, Yumi and Aelita will meet you in the forest sector. Robert, Odd, and William. You three are going to the mountain sector,"_ Jeremy told us. I then looked at William. With my mouth bared in anger and my fist firmly on his sword arm, I looked him dead in his eyes. I was not in the mood to joke around.

"You _will_ listen to everything I say, or you are history. There is too much at stake for you to be arrogant now. Focus, do as I say, and XANA probably won't make you his slave or send you back to your parents in a box. Or two. Got me?" I hissed. His eyes widened, but he nodded. I let him go as I managed to compose myself. I liked to avoid losing my temper as it didn't usually end well for me, but I had to make him get the message.

"Alright. Now we have a job to do. Let's get it done," I said before leading my partners out of here. All of us hopped on the elevator and towards the place where we normally extracted info from Sector Five where the vehicles were waiting for us.

"Ok, Ulrich. You use the Overwing and go get Aelita and Yumi with it. Odd can keep the Overboard, and William hops on the Overbike with me," I said, getting on the Overbike.

"Well, wouldn't it be easier if I drove?" William asked.

"Do you know how to pilot an Overbike?" I questioned.

"Well... no," he said awkwardly.

"Didn't think so. Get on," I said, jerking my head. He hopped on the back of the bike and I nodded with Odd as we took off. His hands immediately went to my waist to avoid falling off.

 _"Alright, I'm stopping the stream to the tunnels,"_ Jeremy said. Once I saw that the stream had stopped, I diverted the Overbike to head in that direction. But we had four paths to take. Four different sectors.

"Jeremy, which one?" Ulrich asked.

 _"Let's see..."_ he said with a pause he began typing. _"Alright. The first one is the desert region. The second one is the forest. Third is the polar region. And the fourth one is the mountain one."_

"Alright. Ulrich needs to head through the second, and we go through the fourth," I said as I moved the bike to head into the fourth tunnel. We came out of a deactivated tower in the area and I made the Overbike stop floating and actually land on the ground.

"Where do we go from here?" I asked.

 _"Um..."_ Jeremy said, typing furiously. _"Aelita, Yumi, and Ulrich. You three need to head forty degrees north and six degrees west from that tower's location. As for Robert, Odd, and William... Seventeen degrees north and twelve degrees east."_

"Got it. We should get there in a minute," I said, revving the engine to speed us up.

It didn't take very long to get to the tower, and it was guarded by two blocks. I rolled my eyes. Real secure. Then again, he did have four towers activated at the same time.

"Let's speed this up," I said, jumping from the bike. Flipping in the air and activating my lightsabers, I slashed my sabers horizontally and destroyed the blocks instantly. I was vaguely reminded of a scene from the third Star Wars movie.

"That was fast," I said as William was rising to his feet. I then turned towards the tower and began to deactivate it. A smile didn't even cross my face. One down, three to go.

"What's the status on the tower Aelita went after?" I asked.

 _"Ulrich and Yumi are helping her fight off two mega tanks,"_ Jeremy said.

"But we only got..." A yell of pain from William cut me off and I immediately ran out of the tower. Two tarantulas were in front of us, and Odd was dodging laser fire while firing off a shot when he could while William was barely holding against up against the laser fire of the tarantulas that were firing at him.

I stood in front of him and began deflecting lasers away from him. I could feel him shift behind me and raise his sword.

"Eat this!" William exclaimed, slashing his sword through the air and instantly destroyed the first one with a wave of energy. I then leaped over to the tarantula that was firing at Odd and impaled it in the head before jumping off and landing neatly. I then looked at the others.

"Those things shoot fast," William said.

"You get used to it," Odd said in a dry tone.

"Next tower. Where we going Jeremy?" I asked.

 _"The others will be heading to the desert region, so you'll be heading to the arctic region,"_ Jeremy said as I picked the Overbike that was leaned against a rock.

"They got my Overboard," Odd said.

"Then catch up when you can," I told him. He nodded and I sped down the tower and came out of the tower.

 _"When you come out of the tower that you come out of, just head south. It's a straight shot to the tower,"_ Jeremy told me.

"Noted," I said.

 _"Dammit,"_ Jeremy muttered, making my eyes widen.

"Jeremy?" I asked, my tone slightly worried.

 _"I've been listening to you too much. Odd just got devirtualized,"_ he said, his tone grim.

"How? I was just there!" I exclaimed. Then I had to restrain myself from smacking myself on the head. It would've been smarter if Odd took the Overbike. I could've just ran there. My speed is more than enough to keep up with the Overbike. Think Robert, think!

 _"And right after you left, XANA sent in a couple of blocks. He was frozen on the spot, nothing he could've done,"_ Jeremy said.

"Fuck," I said, my tone frustrated. "We're down a man. What's waiting for me?"

 _"Don't know what you'll be facing until you get closer,"_ Jeremy said. My eyes were focused forward as I heard William take a deep breath. If things weren't so serious, I would've smiled. He was finally understanding how serious this situation was. That was a step in the right direction.

"Alright, you got four blocks and a mega tank waiting for you," Jeremy told me.

"Oh, that's great. William, on my mark, I want you to slash the air and aim the wave at the blocks. I know that sword isn't the lightest thing ever, but the accuracy will go a long way. I'll try to divert the mega tank's attention away from you," I said.

"I'll do my best," he said, his expression completely serious. I nodded and every one of them came into focus. Give it a few moments more, and...

"Now! Do it!" I exclaimed. With a grunt of effort, William jumped off the bike. Raising the bike to where it was slightly lifted off the ground, I sped up the bike and rammed the bike directly into the tank. I grunted from the effort of bouncing off it, but at least the mega tank was thrown off the attack aimed towards William.

I rose to my feet and knew I had to test this ability. I threw my hand out, and the tank didn't even move. Ok, that didn't work. But I knew I could focus it and make it more powerful. But as it was turning towards me, I knew I would never get the chance. So focusing the energy in my left hand where I had my saber, I threw it out as soon as the tank's center was vulnerable. The launch made my saber too fast for it to close up again, and it was destroyed.

I then found myself deflecting more lasers with my remaining saber as William didn't destroy all of the blocks. But I saw that he did get two of them.

"Get off him!" William exclaimed as he jumped in the air and slammed his blade directly through the block with no effort. Then he spun and destroyed the second block immediately after before steadying himself.

"You're getting better," I said, summoning my second saber back to my hand as I deactivated my sabers and walked into the tower. He might have thought it, but I was not talking about his fighting skills. He seemed to be more solemn; more serious.

 _"Should we let him in now? That's what got him captured the last time. If he curbs that..."_ I thought hesitantly as I floated up to the tower. It was a possibility... a very risky and stupid possibility, but a possibility nevertheless.

"Tower down," I said as I shut the tower down. "The others?"

 _"Yumi was taken out and Ulrich took a couple of hits, but they got it done,"_ Jeremy said before he went silent. It was a little too sudden. It was barely noticeable, but I paid attention to it.

"Jeremy?" I questioned, my tone hesitant as I exited the tower.

 _"Oh no,"_ he said.

"You're worrying me. What's going on?" I asked.

 _"The towers were a distraction. He's back at the core, and the first barrier's already down!"_ Jeremy said before typing furiously. _"Get to the desert sector. Aelita and Ulrich are at an edge I can use to get you to Sector Five. Hurry!"_

"We're getting there! Hold on!" I exclaimed as exited the tower, grabbed William and jumped off the edge.

"Oh, man!" he exclaimed.

"Flip now!" I told him. He did exactly what I told him, and we landed on the platform safely. We then ran forward and they gestured us over.

 _"Ok, I'm entering the code,"_ Jeremy said. Not long after, the eye came to pick us up and we were traveling through the sectors and down to Sector Five.

"How close are we cutting this?" I questioned.

 _"Very close. The second barrier's almost gone,"_ Jeremy said. _"But you gotta find that switch."_

"Again?!" Ulrich exclaimed.

"I'll take care of it," I said, speeding off. I then jumped on several platforms before spotting the switch on a wall. Backing up slightly, I then ran forward and jumped and hit the switch immediately. The platforms up high lowered to ground level before a path on the side opened up.

 _"The second barrier broke! Robert, you have seconds at best,"_ Jeremy said.

"I'm not going to be able to make it," I said flatly.

"What do you mean? You have..."

"You said it yourself. We have seconds at best, and there are too many monsters for me to stop all at once. There's only one solution," I said as I jumped down towards the others. With a quick flurry, I slashed Ulrich, Aelita, and William before they could even say a word. I saw them devirtualize with looks of shock. My sabers pointed towards the ground as my head was lowered.

 _"Don't worry. I'll transfer you back, and..."_

"There are only three scanners Jeremy," I said flatly.

 _"No. NO!"_ I heard him yell.

"Find me if you can. If you can't, all of you. Take care of yourselves," I said with a small smile as a loud shatter resounded through the entire sector. Then... black.


	36. Chapter 36 - Consequences

A/N: I'm glad everyone seemed to enjoy the last chapter. Don't worry. It's not over yet. We still got a journey ahead of us. Go ahead and have this one.

* * *

Pain. Pain was the last thing I expected. I had bones broken, head wounds, bruises, cuts, lasers burning through my body, and so on. But this was something to remember. The sensation felt as if my body was being tugged in different directions in the most painful way possible, which kind of made sense. As Lyoko was destroyed, everything in it was being destroyed. I was no different. I just took a little longer. Agonizing didn't begin to describe it. Yet somehow, regardless of the pain, I managed to smile.

 _"This... isn't as bad I could've died. In my regular world, I probably would've died in some meaningless way. But now I can at least die knowing I did something worthwhile,"_ I thought. But my trembling gave me away. The idea of dying still terrified me. What I had done to get here was only small comfort.

The idea of death terrified me to my core. Was I a coward for being afraid of death? I didn't think so. At least I wouldn't hope so. It was logical to fear death. After all, I wasn't some hardcore superhero or anti-hero like I saw in movies and comics. I was a regular kid who shared undeserved responsibilities with others who didn't deserve it as much as I did.

"I hope you get the bastard," I said, closing my eyes tightly I hoped it would make the pain easier to bear. I'm sure if you could cry on Lyoko, I'd be doing it. Not of sadness, but because of pain.

 _"His vitals are declining!"_ a voice exclaimed. That was the sudden reminder that I was also still in my regular universe, but I couldn't do anything. At least they would lose their "test subject." I'd be angry if I didn't hurt so bad.

 _"Fair enough Lita. Like the nickname?"_

 _"Nickname? You basically just dropped the a and e in my name."_

 _"Hey, I said it was a nickname. I didn't say it was a creative one!"_ I almost wanted to laugh. I was seeing my life flash before my eyes. Couldn't get more cliche than that. This time I did manage a laugh, but it hurt my ears. It sounded more anguished than anything.

 _"I want this to be over. But... no. I should try and fight it, right? They may be able to get me out. I have faith,"_ I thought, tightening my fists as I tried to fight the trembling and convulsions is was suffering from. Christ, this was painful.

 _"My name is Robert Morgan. You may not know me, but I know you. All of you. Odd, Ulrich, Yumi, Jeremy, and Aelita next to me. I know who you all are, and I know what you all do. XANA, the Supercomputer, I know it all."_

 _"So what you're saying is that I should go for it?"_

 _"Exactly. If she says yes, then you two will live happily ever after in a magical forest or some shit like that."_

 _"So? Tell us what the good news is!"_

 _"I don't know how to tell you both this, but... we're waiting for you here."_

 _"We made it."_

 _"Yeah. We did."_

 _"Now THIS is a race. You better ramp up those vehicles guys! Even on those things, you are still eating my dust!"_

 _"Oh, now you're asking for it!"_

 _"I don't necessarily say I blame you. But... I really don't want you to leave."_

 _"We understand. Just don't forget that we're with you. No matter what."_

 _"This isn't traditional, but happy Valentine's Day."_

 _"I think I do. Just... we spend some our spare time getting to know each other, seeing how we get along?"_

 _"Is that a yes?"_

 _"It's definitely a yes. Look, I'd like to see you after school. We'll meet out here and we'll take a walk into town."_

 _"You think we can make it back before curfew?"_

 _"While I'm very good at sneaking back into my dorm, I'll do my best to oblige you milady."_

 _"I like you. I really do."_

 _"I really like you too."_

 _"Like it? The statement was all me. Because this ring means that I will try my damnedest to be the best man that I can be for you. Forget being your valentine. Do you want to be my girlfriend?"_

 _"Of course I did. I could've fixed the board myself, but then this wouldn't have happened. You have a talent in music. I fully support you, and I know that you should build on it."_

 _"Thank you. I know I would discover this even if you weren't here, but... it feels good that you believe in me."_

 _"Until you stop being so nice. Why did you buy this? This night isn't-"_

 _"It is important. It's your first debut as an artist. I'm just helping you make an impression. New clothes that say, 'Look at me. I'm smart, talented, and drop dead gorgeous.'"_

 _"Thank you."_

 _"How about we get Odd a candy ring and have him propose to a gingerbread man? It'll be the perfect romance."_

 _"Can you at least say woman?!"_

 _"No! Cause this is a lot funnier."_

 _"You too?"_

 _"Me too."_

 _"I'm not fine. He took my knowing of the situation and turned it into an advantage. Regardless of everything I was hoping to avoid, he still got out of the Supercomputer. And that look on your face when he finished taking your memory... it's there at the back of my mind still. That lifeless look. It's something I really don't want to remember. Ever."_

 _"I'm alive, thanks to you."_

 _"Yeah, and that was random circumstance. I don't even know how I did it. I just..."_

 _"Does the how really matter right now? You saved her life."_

 _"I don't think there's anything you can tell me at this point. Your promises... just aren't enough. I'm done. I just can't deal with it anymore. We're done."_

 _"What's wrong?"_

 _"She's gone. She's gone."_

 _"Mr. 'I'm not going to use the program that much.' Look at you."_

 _"The greatest irony ever. I thought I wasn't going to use the program all that much if at all, and here I am making every song that comes to mind."_

Memories. All memories. All of them significant, but not all of them joyous. All people important in my life. Well, not so much one of them anymore. Would they miss me if they could never see me again? Probably not.

 _"No, don't think like that. Don't you doubt for even a second that they didn't care for you as much as you cared for them,"_ I thought furiously. My body curled in on itself even more like I was trying to fight the pain so I could have my last moments of consciousness. Even if it agonized me to do it.

 _"Jeremy. Heh. Man, dedication isn't the word to describe him. A hard worker, extremely loyal, and a good friend. Doesn't have a damned clue as far as Aelita goes, surprisingly. No matter how much I push him. Wouldn't change who he is though. A close friend. And a driven person who believes in this cause."_

 _"Ulrich. Man, complicated doesn't begin to describe him. His parents weren't exactly the most understanding people and it could've made him more withdrawn and bitter than he is now, but he isn't. Out everyone, I feel like he's the one I understand the most. And vice versa. Almost like we share the same thoughts and opinions on things. And he doesn't even know about Yumi and why she kept denying him. If I knew this would've happened, I would've told him. Yelled it at him so he couldn't have ran from it and neither could Yumi. So those two could be happy together. Instead of arguing and bickering unnecessarily about their jealousies that everyone could see but them."_

 _"Odd. You want to talk about someone who doesn't have a serious bone in their body, look no further than this son of a bitch. Always smiling, always carefree, always goofy, always positive. And always hungry. That's one thing we have in common. A love and appreciation for food. But he was also a good friend in his own right. He was goofy, but he was always supportive, always tried to be helpful. He was not perfect. None of us are. Nowhere near. But he was always genuine, always compassionate and just passionate in general."_

 _"Yumi. The most stubborn person out of all of us. Firm. Strong willed. Yet caring. Supportive. More than anyone, I feel like she was the one I would never understand. There were just so many things that she could've done better. With Ulrich, I know the situation would've felt like it couldn't have been handled any other way, but dammit, she deserved Ulrich. More than anyone. And he deserved her. No matter the amount of jealous squabbles and the petty things they did to get each others' attention. More anything, they cared about each other. Now they just needed to care_ for _each other."_

 _"Aelita. Last, but far from least. I can't imagine anyone that's nicer and more infectious with a good attitude than this girl. There was just so much she did without even trying. She had a spirit more than any of us. Always optimistic. Always looking for something good. Always looking for that happy ever after. Somewhat naive, but I was glad I was able to help with that. Turn her into something more firm, but not hard. Something better than what she was before."_

 _"No one provides comfort like her either. The others can be as supportive as they want, but there was just something about her that made coping with hard times easier. She knew me better than I knew myself sometimes, and would never let me sit around feel sorry for myself. She did something to make it better. Suppose she was the reason I even bothered to pick up a guitar. Or express an interest in music in the first place."_

On my deathbed, or whatever it was since I was floating in oblivion, I was left wondering would I have made it. Done anything positive for music if I was allowed to live. I could've tried. To do my damndest to improve. Could've learned how to play instruments. Learned how to sing. Learned how to dance. Gave this dimension the music that I had and enjoyed for so long.

 _"With the way you get excited over making it, I think you could have even more fun actually doing it yourself."_

"I think you would've been right. Thank you. Thank you for believing in me," I said softly. Then the pain faded significantly because it didn't quite feel like I was here anymore. It was like my mind was slowly easing into unconsciousness. Then there would've only been peace. I almost died once before. I knew the feeling. Despite all the pain, it was nice. Nice to think about the people I would do anything to protect for a little while longer.

Then a white light surged. It was like a light had suddenly cut on while I was in the dark for hours on end, but I looked at the light without blinking. I didn't know what it was, but at the same time, I got a feeling...

 _"I think you're better off not being here at the moment,"_ a deep voice said. I didn't even get time to think about it as I could feel myself suddenly disappearing on the spot. But it wasn't painful. It was too instantaneous.

Then I was fully aware of the pain that was travelling through my body all over again. Only difference is that I could feel cool air hitting my skin as I collapsed forward. I couldn't support myself worth a damn.

But arms caught me. Soft, warm ones that were slightly shaking from effort. I looked up. Warm black eyes that held concern in them were looking at me. I smiled weakly at the sight of tears.

"Hey, don't you be crying over me. It'll sully that pretty face of yours," I said, raising my hand to wipe them off Aelita's face. Even if my entire body was in pain, it was still somewhat awkward to see people cry over me. Maybe cause I never thought about the fact that I was a person worth crying over.

"We thought you were dead. Dead, dead. As in, there was no way you were coming back dead," Odd said, his voice sounding strained.

"So did I. I could feel it. Lyoko trying to rip me apart as it couldn't support beings anymore. It was agonizing, just sitting there waiting to die. Not to mention scary as hell. Thinking of you all made it better; comforted me a bit," I said as I focused on Aelita again. "When we find your father, I'm going to tell him I owe him everything."

"So do we," Jeremy said, wiping his sleeve across his face. I smiled and tried to sit up without the support of Aelita, but I let out an anguished groan that even I couldn't have tried to pass off as a minor thing.

"What is it?" Ulrich asked in concern, immediately coming over to my side.

"Gah... I hurt. Everywhere," I said, my voice sounding strained.

"By the sound of things, Lyoko tried to rip your form apart. The strain transferred over to your human body to compensate for your return," Jeremy said. He would've sounded like his normal self if his voice didn't sound so shaky.

"I'm not walking anywhere until the pain eases," I said, trying not to move an inch.

"Then we'll help you. We'll take you to a hospital, or... or something," Aelita said, sounding as if she was struggling to get her words together.

"You know what I need?" I questioned. "I need you all to stay here. I could use something to eat. I just want to lie down until the pain feels like it's nothing but a dream until I wake up."

"We'll... we'll do that. Ulrich, help me," Aelita said, her words sounding somewhat choked as she and Ulrich tried to help me to my feet. I strained to try to make it easier on them, but I had to bite down on my tongue hard as well as arch my back to prevent myself from yelling in pain. Now my head started spinning.

"Stop moving!" Aelita exclaimed, sounding almost angry. It was bad when you were looking at someone and they looked twice as upset. Because they were out of focus so much.

"Can't... help it," I said as I fell into unconsciousness. I heard an exclaim of my name before everything went black for the second time today.

* * *

"The anesthetics will help with the pain. Do you know what happened to him? There are no physical or internal injuries, but I know pain spasms when when I see them."

"No. We just found him outside of the school like this," Ulrich said. Their voices sounded faint and far away. I could barely process any type of thought, much less coherent thought.

"Well, I've never seen anything like this. Even the slightest effort will trigger his pain nerves. And there's no sign of any injury. Outside or inside," the doctor said.

"Not surprising." That's what I tried to say, but it just came out in an inaudible mumble.

"Is he alright?" Aelita asked.

"He's fine. We just filled him with a lot of anesthetics. He'll more than likely be out of it for a few minutes. At least he doesn't seem to be in pain anymore," the doctor said.

"Thank fuck for that," I managed to mumble. It was still hard to hear.

"Mr. Morgan? Are you alright?" the doctor asked. I blinked multiple times as if I were just waking out of a long sleep before they stayed open. A man with lightly graying hair stood in front of me. Then I turned to see that all of my other friends were there as well. I smiled gently.

"Better," I said as I tried to sit up in a more comfortable position, but I winced as soon as I did.

"Easy. Your bones are under a lot of strain. They won't take long to heal, but they will take time," the doctor said.

"Exactly how long are we talking about here?" I asked.

"To the point where you won't be leaving that bed for a couple of days," he told me, causing me to throw my hands down.

"Great," I said, my tone somewhat flat.

"Just relax," Aelita told me, putting a hand on my shoulder. I let out air through my nose as I closed my eyes to find a way to relax.

"Good. Now, you will remain here for the next few days. Your guardians have been notified, and they are on their way. I shall leave you to speak to your friends," the doctor said before walking out. Then Aelita put a hand on my head, running her hand through my hair. Felt nice in a strange way.

"At least this unruly mess is still intact," she said with a small smile, making me laugh lightly.

"It's an unruly mess, but it's _my_ unruly mess," I said, grinning widely.

"How are you feeling?" Ulrich asked.

"Like I could snap in two if I was pulled in one direction too hard. Nothing but good news for XANA," I told him.

"At least you're alive," Aelita reminded me, still running her hand through my hair. I didn't know why she was still doing it, but it wasn't really anything to complain about. Quite the opposite, really.

"She's right. We didn't think you were alive. The virtualization code had no use because we had no way to find you after Lyoko was destroyed," Jeremy said.

"I don't think I would've survived if it wasn't for Franz," I said. I don't think anyone else could've saved me in that moment.

"Yeah. Thank God for that," Odd said.

"So I'm stuck in this bed for a few days," I said, trying my best not to move once that thought settled in. But I was also even more antsy because it was still a problem because I know XANA wouldn't give me time to heal. If he was as smart as I knew he was, he wouldn't.

"We'll look after you until you recover. XANA is not getting to you," Yumi said firmly.

"I know. I still can't help but be worried," I said as I opened my eyes and looked at everyone. "Speaking of worrying about things, what's William doing?"

"Outside. We didn't let him in because... well, I don't think you would want him in after what he did," Yumi said.

"I am pissed that he did that. Still am as a matter of fact. But I won't deny he was useful today. I'm starting to think that we can let him in," I said, making everyone's eyes widen.

"You were so adamant about letting him in the last time. Are you sure?" Aelita questioned, suddenly removing her hand. I tried to pretend like I didn't miss the feeling.

"In instances where I've done my best to prevent a certain outcome, some time or another, it ends up happening anyway. And the result of it always stays the same. Cause I always run from the problem. Well, how about we address it? Bring him in here," I said, wincing as I sat up straighter.

"Alright," Jeremy said, walking out of the room. I tried not to wince or give off any show of pain, but it was hard. It was like my bones were being stabbed by needles every second.

"The doctor said stay down," Aelita reminded me, her right eyebrow arched somewhat sternly.

"I'm fine. I can afford to sit up for a few seconds. I've lived through worse," I said.

"Barely," she said with a pointed look.

"I'm _fine,"_ I stressed firmly before Jeremy came back with William. "Ah. I need to talk with you."

"Are you alright?" William asked with concern in his tone.

"I'll live. Been through worse than this," I said as I looked at him. "There's an issue I need to discuss with you."

"What?" he asked hesitantly.

"I don't need to stress this anymore than I'm about to right now. What you did was fucking stupid. Reckless, idiotic, and it matches the hot headed bastard impression that you keep giving off when XANA is involved," I said, heat entering my tone. His head lowered like I was a teacher giving him a lecture, only I don't think he took one from a teacher like he took this one. He didn't roll his eyes or anything.

"There was a reason I refused to let you into the group, and the team agreed with my reasoning. So we didn't. But regardless of my attempts to prevent an outcome, we still lost Lyoko. But we didn't lose you," I said, causing him to lift his head. "So I'm going to tell you what I'm offering. And everyone can feel free to disagree if they want."

"Given what I saw, I now believe that you can be a valuable asset to this group. But not acting like the idiot like before. So here's my offer. You can be let in about what goes on XANA. I mean, we pretty much have to because you got scanned onto Lyoko. But you don't get transferred onto Lyoko. Your aid will be purely in the real world until you prove to all of us, that there is not doubt in anyone's mind that you can stop being an idiot, listen, and do what you're supposed to do," I explained before finally sitting back. I couldn't hold back the sigh of relief when my screaming limbs were eased.

"So... I can be a part of this group?" William asked.

"In a way, yes. But not on Lyoko. This group has to trust that you can handle it. If one person disagrees with the fact that you can't handle being on Lyoko and listening to people that know better about this situation than you do, then you're not going anywhere near Lyoko. Got it?" I questioned, making William nod. Then I turned to the others. "Questions? Comments? Concerns? Anyone?"

"I mean... are you sure we can do this?" Odd asked.

"Like I said, you all are the judges for whether or not William is mature enough to handle Lyoko work. You all decide when. If you all decide he's ready, then I'm sure he'll be ready," I said.

"And you're not pissed at all at him?" Yumi asked.

"Oh, no. Don't get it twisted. I'm still very much upset. I'm past anger, but I am upset. The only reason I haven't slapped the bitch out of him is because my limbs ache from a result of me saving his life rather than my own, which would result in hurting myself more than him," I said, making William scratch the back of his head. "I'm confined to this hospital bed for the next few days because it hurts to move. Is this what you wanted to achieve?"

"No! Of course not!" William exclaimed.

"Then you have to realize that there are _consequences for your actions!"_ I bellowed, making him jump. "I nearly _died._ I literally had my life flash before my eyes. I was fucking scared. I..." I put my hands on my forehead, and began to rub my temples furiously. It was taking everything I had not to go back there. But it still wasn't enough.

 _"Painful, dark, alone... waiting to die... alone... no one there... Godammit, get a grip!"_ I thought furiously. Did no good. There was still this intense fear I felt. It seemed like I was back in the grips of death rather than safe in a hospital bed.

"Breathe Robert, breathe!" Aelita suddenly exclaimed as a doctor walked in. I was suddenly aware of the erratic beating of the monitor next to me as well as my lack of breathing. I couldn't breathe. Why couldn't I breathe? My eyes were wide, and I felt petrified in place.

"Mr. Morgan. Can you hear me?" the doctor asked. I suddenly looked at him before my sight darted to my friends. My heartbeat started to slow, and breath started to come back. A sigh of relief escaped my lips.

"What happened?" Odd asked.

"Panic attack," Aelita said before the doctor did. "They're common if someone's feeling a sensation of intense fear. He shows a good number of the signs. Fast heart rate, sweating, trembling, his lack of breathing. It's a terrifying thing. I'm sure."

 _"Panic attacks? I don't get panic attacks,"_ I thought, torn between feeling embarrassed and indignant.

"You looking to be a doctor, young lady?" the doctor asked, sounding mildly impressed.

"No, I just read plenty," Aelita said, putting a hand on my forehead. My breathing finally regulated, and I was able to relax my muscles. Never thought that me out of all people would start having panic attacks.

"He seems to be ok now. If this happens a second time, I'll put you under some anesthetics to put you to sleep. There must be some underlying trauma to come from what you had been through, judging from the panic attack. Just yell if this happens again, ok? And I don't mean you again. I heard that," the doctor explained, pointing at me. I only looked away awkwardly.

"Of course sir," Jeremy said. The doctor then nodded and left.

"Look..." Ulrich said, getting in front of William. "We'll discuss this later. Right now, he needs to rest. And I'm not sure if you're the most healthy thing for him to be around at this moment."

"It's ok. Get better man," William said softly before walking out.

"Are you ok?" Ulrich asked.

"Kinda. That panic attack was a bit sudden," I said.

"And most certainly something I don't want to see happen again," Yumi said.

"Definitely not," everyone said at the same time. It was still so weird to have so much concern over me. But... I definitely felt loved as a person. So I would definitely take it.

"Anyway..." I said with a clear of my throat. "...what happened when I collapsed?"

"With the way you lost consciousness, we thought you had died for real. _Again._ We could feel a pulse, so we just took you to the hospital. I had to notify my parents. It shouldn't be much longer until they get here," Yumi told me.

"I hate just sitting here. Doing nothing," I said.

"Don't you think you've been through enough for one day?" Ulrich questioned, his tone one of disbelief. "What with almost dying and the panic attack..."

"Not Lyoko related. I just hate sitting. But hurts to even sit up straight, much less move," I said before sighing. "Enough of that. I want to focus on some things I thought about while in oblivion."

"You sure we can trust William?" Yumi asked.

"We're not trusting him yet. We're just giving him the task of helping with XANA in the real world. And we pretty much have to deal with it. I mean, he's immune to the Return to the Past now. That issue has been addressed fairly I would say, and I haven't heard any of you disagree. Now, there's something I need to address with you," I said, pointing at Aelita.

"Me?" she asked.

"Yes. Because I had a lot of time to think, and I came to a conclusion about the music. If you're willing to help, I'll take the formal stuff a little more seriously. With work, there are things that can be accomplished. Prominent things. I don't want to get my hopes up, but it's entirely possible that this can go somewhere. Do I have your help?" I asked.

"Of course," Aelita said immediately.

"So what does that mean?" Odd asked. Then the door opened, and I looked away from the others to see who walked in. It was Yumi's parents. Ah, that timing.

"My goodness. Are you alright?" Mrs. Ishiyama asked.

"Been better. It helps having everyone around," I said, wincing once I tried to move my hands to emphasize my point. "And that's a painful reminder as to why I can't move."

"You mean, you can't move at all?" Hiroki asked.

"I can, but it'll hurt if I try," I said.

"So..." Hiroki trailed before poking my arm. The prod wasn't very painful, but it only caused me to glare at him. If I could move, I'd strangle him for doing that.

"Hiroki," Yumi growled, grabbing her brother's hand. "Stop that."

"Ok, ok. I'm just seeing if..."

"My bones aren't _that_ sensitive. It's more irritating than anything else," I told him with a pointed look.

"Hiroki, behave," Mr. Ishiyama said, pulling his son away from the bed.

"Do you have any idea what caused this?" Mrs. Ishiyama asked me, sitting on the edge of my bed.

"Unfortunately, no. I suffer from no physical or internal damage, so the cause as to what hurt me is a mystery to everyone involved," I told her, making her sigh. I didn't think it was a good idea to mention the panic attack.

"I was afraid of that. Still, you're taking this rather well," Mrs. Ishiyama said, putting a hand on the top of my head fondly. I blinked before I unconsciously smiled. The gesture was strange for me, but I liked it.

"Oh, I've always had a high threshold for pain," I said.

"With a skull as thick as his, I'm not surprised," Aelita said with a smirk. Everyone, including me laughed while I gave her a hard stare. The two didn't really mix.

"Oh, you are so lucky I can't move. I'd... mmm!" I said, pointing a finger up towards her direction.

"You two act like Yumi and Hiroki sometimes," Mrs. Ishiyama said with a warm smile.

"It's probably a sibling thing. I was never like that with my siblings. But then again, I had mostly brothers," Mr. Ishiyama said. I somehow ended up making eye contact with Aelita, and I wasn't sure I was thinking the same thing she was. That it was still weird we had to pretend to be brother and sister around the Ishiyamas. We had no reason to really keep pretending like we were. Other than the fact that they might get pissed at me. I could've just made the excuse that I didn't think they would let me stay if they knew we weren't related. It was better to come to that bridge when we came to it. At least I had an answer for it.

"Anyway, when are you due to be released?" Mrs. Ishiyama asked.

"In three days. I'll start getting my mobility back starting tomorrow, so I'll actually be able to move my arms. Which means I'm coming for you," I said, pointing at Aelita. She only grinned.

"And I look forward to it," she said with a regal bow that was worthy of me. I smiled even wider.

"You've turned her into a second version of you," Odd said with a grin.

"I'm so proud," I said in a mock tearful voice, making everyone laugh. It was good to still be alive.


	37. Chapter 37 - One Step At a Time

"You get it?" I asked. Ulrich walked out between the others, a guitar in his hand. I smiled.

"As promised," he said, handing it to me. I only had about another half hour until I was 'officially' cleared to get out of the hospital, but I needed something to take the boredom off. At least I could properly use my arms now. Haven't tested any of my other limbs.

"Nice," I said, grabbing the instrument and putting my hands in place. "Where'd you get this?"

"Thank Ulrich. He bought it," Yumi said, making me look towards him.

"Why, you spoil me," I said with a mock bashful grin.

"I could take it back," Ulrich said with a smirk.

"Alright, I'll stop playing around," I said as I examined the guitar. I couldn't help the small smile that came to my face as I started to remember some of the stuff I practiced before I became 'disabled.'

"Play something," Aelita said with a reassuring smile. I then rubbed the back of my head.

"Um... well, I haven't necessarily practiced..." _Liar._

"Practice now. It's just us around you," Jeremy said. I looked down at the guitar.

"Hell, why not?" I said. I sat there for a second, thinking about what I wanted to play. Suddenly I started strumming, and immediately knew what I was playing. Far From Home by Five Finger Death Punch. Out of all things. Then I missed a note, and it ruined my focus.

"Dammit," I said, staring at the guitar. "I was actually doing good for a moment."

"What do you know? It's one thing you don't know immediately," Jeremy said.

"I'm kind of glad for that. I kind of like the fact that I have to actually focus," I said before trying it again. My fingers strummed the guitar again, and the music came out just as straight as I started the last time. Except it was more consistent.

"Another day in this carnival of souls," I hummed softly before blinking in slight surprise. Then I stopped. Maybe that was just habit. Should not have opened my mouth.

"Mess up one of the words or something?" Aelita asked.

"No, not that or anything," I said, looking down at the guitar.

"Then why stop? It was sounding pretty good," Yumi said.

"It's just..."

"You said you would take the formal stuff a little more seriously. Go on. Try it," Aelita said, making me look back at the guitar before sighing. I started strumming again before closing my eyes. Think of the peaceful days... just sitting back and relaxing... focus on what you're playing...

 _Another day in this carnival of souls_

 _Another night's end, ends as quickly as it goes_

 _The memories are shadows; ink on the page_

 _And I can't seem to find my way home_

 _And it's almost like_

 _Your heaven's trying everything_

 _Your heaven's trying everything_ _to_ _keep me out_

I kept strumming a little while longer before I stopped as I laid the guitar in front of me.

"I mean, it's not the greatest, but it's good enough for me at least. At that point, the drums start to come in and I'd rather not try the rest of it without them," I said as I looked up. All of them were staring at me in a perplexed fashion, and couldn't help but feel uncomfortable from the stares.

"Er... what's with the looks?" I asked hesitantly.

"I think I speak for all of us when I say how baffled I am when it comes to how idiotic you can be," Aelita told me. I simply blinked at her. For some reason, I didn't take that as a bad thing.

"What she means by that," Ulrich said at my blank look. "is that you are no where near as bad as you claim to be. I wouldn't say you're at the Subdigitals level or even some of the other bands I've listened to, but then again, they are popular bands who are professional at what they do, so that doesn't mean too much. That wasn't nowhere near as bad as you thought as it was going to be."

"I'm with Ulrich. That was actually pretty good. What was the song called?" Odd asked.

 _"Far From Home_ by Five Finger Death Punch. I love the band and their music. I don't know why it popped in my head, but it felt like the right thing to play at the time," I told him.

 _"Perhaps because in your case, the lyrics are pretty literal,"_ I thought.

"Have you finished it with that program?" Jeremy asked.

"No, not yet. Maybe that was why I played it. I didn't think about it. It just sort of... happened. It's nothing any of you have heard yet," I told them.

"Try something else," Aelita said.

"There's nothing else I want to play without an electric guitar. Most of the songs I love have em. Disturbed, other Death Punch songs, etc," I said.

"Then you need to borrow one or buy one. You actually have talent wise guy," Aelita said, lightly punching my arm. I turned slightly red while rubbing the back of my head.

"I guess I did kind of try to sell the fact that I was going to be the worst at this, didn't I?" I said hesitantly.

"Yes. But all that matters is that you work on it now. Who knows. You might be able to make a career out of this," Jeremy told me.

"They aren't my songs," I reminded them.

"To the rest of the world they are. Because I doubt anyone's going to find any of the people you say made the songs. The important thing is that you can pull them off. And you can sing them. That's all that matters," Yumi said.

"And considering you have access to a program that does all the instrument work for you, you don't even necessarily have to learn how to play the instruments," Odd added.

"In that case, it's more or less I want to learn it. I mean, learning to shred a guitar would be awesome," I said.

"If you want I can give you some killer tips," Odd said, sticking his nose up in the air in a superior fashion.

"Can you even play?" I questioned.

"He actually can, surprisingly. Even more surprising is that he's actually good," Ulrich told me, making me raise an eyebrow.

"Really? Huh. But in any case, I'd rather learn it myself. I mean, I definitely still need work. There are times I miss a note because I'm not quite accustomed to how the guitar works, but that only takes practice. Believe me, I'm actually glad I'm not amazing at it first off. I'm like the fact that it's something I actually have to work on," I said with a smile.

"You have a good start already. Just capitalize on it, and you'll be even better," Aelita said, making me nod.

"You wanna try?" I asked, holding the guitar out towards her.

"Oh, no. I have three things I would like to focus on. Making mixes, singing, and dancing. Instrument playing is something I could possibly do, but don't feel as if I need to," Aelita explained, causing me to nod.

"Well, in any case, I'd predict you'd be talented at all three," I said, making her smile at me.

"I could say the same about you," Aelita said.

"You two could work together," Ulrich suggested. I looked at her.

"That's not a bad idea. You want to?" I asked.

"Depends on how it would work. There are things I definitely want to do for myself, and I'm sure you could say the same," Aelita said.

"Oh, for sure. But there are a few things we can do together. Eh, we'll work it out later," I said, grabbing the guitar again before strumming out the first few seconds of _Far From Home_ again. "For now, I'm just ready to get out of this damned hospital so we can make plans."

"Well..." Jeremy said with a small clear of his throat. "You still have a few minutes before you can be released."

"Great," I sighed before I heard a knock on the door. "Come in." I was expecting a nurse. I wasn't expecting Emily.

"Oh. Hey Emily," I said, giving her a small wave and a friendly smile. She started to do the same, but her smile slowly eased its way off her face. And given the way that Yumi was staring at her, I didn't quite blame her.

"Yumi, stop. I'm not upset at her, so you have no reason to be," I told her. I was actually kind of glad she showed up. Her presence did remind me of something I thought about while stuck in the hospital bed. Something that involved the promise ring that was still in my drawer back in my door.

"I'm going for a drink," Yumi said, walking past Emily.

"I'll talk to her," Ulrich said before walking out after her.

"She's still a bit upset," I said casually as my finger lightly traced the guitar.

"That's an understatement," Emily said as she looked down at the guitar I was holding. "Sick guitar. I didn't know you played."

"He does now," Aelita said with a smirk.

"Ignore her smugness. She's content with the fact that she got me into doing stuff like this," I said with a grin.

"'I was right' is what you mean," Aelita said, making me sit up and grab her before pulling her closer so my mouth was next to her ear. She only giggled.

"I'm not as much of an invalid as I was a few days ago. Don't think I won't subject you to The Tickle Torture again," I said before letting her go.

"Fine. You win," she said. Didn't stop her from giggling like I actually was tickling her. Emily stared at me, and I couldn't really distinguish the look she was giving me. She then looked at Jeremy before looking back at me.

"So, um... are you doing well now?" Emily asked in a somewhat awkward tone.

"Better. Couldn't half move when I first got in here, so I'm definitely much better. Thanks for coming by," I said with a gentle smile.

"Sure. I only knew you were here cause I overheard you all talking about you being in the hospital," Emily said, making everyone stare at her.

"You were eavesdropping?" Odd questioned with a raised brow, making her turn slightly red.

"It wasn't intentional. I mean, I do sit near you in social studies," Emily said.

"True," Jeremy noted. I was more worried about her possibly hearing something about Lyoko. I couldn't have been the only one.

"Anyway, I'm due to be released in a few minutes," I interjected smoothly. "While you're here, should I show you what I've learned thus far?"

"Learned? You mean the guitar?" Emily asked.

"Yeah. It's pretty fun to play to be honest," I said, holding the guitar in front of me.

"I'm afraid that'll have to wait," the doctor said, making everyone look at him as he walked in. "For the last few minutes, I'll be running a few more tests to see if he is in the condition to leave."

"Oh, that's fine," Aelita said as she grabbed the guitar from me. "We'll meet you outside."

"Can't wait to leave this stupid bed," I said as I shifted to get into a more comfortable position. Everyone left before I looked at the doctor.

"Some nice friends you got there," the doctor said.

"They're my best friends. Wouldn't trade them for anything," I said with a wide smile.

"I can see why. Now... you trying to become a musician or something?" the doctor asked, making me raise an eyebrow.

"Aren't you supposed to be testing whether or not I can be released?" I asked.

"I am, but I thought I'd just make brief small talk. If you're not comfortable with that, we can move on," the doctor told me.

"Well to answer your question... kind of?" I said with some hesitancy.

"Well, for some extra reassurance, I think you play fairly well. Never heard that specific tune either," the doctor said.

"How did you even hear that from here?" I asked.

"I was near the front desk, and these walls are purposely made thin in case things go awry with patients. Add the guitar that one of your friends took from you, and it's not that hard to piece it together," the doctor told me.

"Whatever you say Dr. Detective," I said, making him smile in a good natured way.

"Alright. That's enough of that. Firstly to test whether or not you're cleared to leave, get up," the doctor told me. I stood to my feet, and it felt so good. Especially considering that I was not wincing in pain with every movement.

"That's a good sign thus far. Now, bend down and touch your toes," the doctor said.

"I'll do you one better," I said as I flipped forward and stood on my hands. I then pushed myself up and down, and there was no soreness in my limbs. "Hahaha!"

"You can get down now," the doctor said. I then eased myself down, and he was writing something before looking back at me.

"You heal fast. I wasn't quite expecting for you to be able to do something like that," he said.

"It feels good to get moving after being bedridden for the last few days," I told him.

"I'm sure. Now, if you want, you can call your guardians to come get you," the doctor said.

"Nah, I'll just walk. It's not that far of a walk back to where I'm going," I told him.

"Alright. Then goodbye. And I hope you you succeed in your 'kind of' music career," the doctor said with a wide smile.

"Well, I hope you succeed in your 'kind of' detective job," I said with a smirk as I waved and headed outside. Like they said, all of them were still waiting outside.

"I'm cleared, bitches!" I said in a gleeful tone as I held my arms out at my side. Multiple heads turned around before briefly after, I was tackled and in the center of a group hug. I noticed that Emily was not here. Guess she went back to the school.

"Bout damn time, if I must say," Ulrich said.

"Yes. I agree. But do you mind not trying to take all the air from my lungs?" I said with a grin, and the grips eased.

"So, you're good to go?" Yumi asked with a smile.

"Yeah. I'm in perfect health. And Aelita, if you don't mind..." I said, looking at her. She then held the guitar out towards me, and I grabbed it. "One thing I am curious about. Was XANA active at all during those three days?"

"Not once. I didn't like it either," Jeremy said with a small frown.

"I did," Aelita said, making us all look towards her in a sort of perplexed fashion. "You had time to recover without him trying to make your condition worse."

"That's a good point," Odd said.

"Still, after what happened the last time, I would think he would try to hit us even harder," Jeremy said.

"Maybe he's taking the time to recharge. He did so much the last time he was active," I told him.

"That's also a possibility. But as of right now, let's not focus on that. There's something more pressing I need to discuss with you," Jeremy said, looking at me.

"What is it?" I asked.

"I also noticed that upon your transfer, Franz Hopper sent us some data to us as well. With it, we can recreate Lyoko," Jeremy told me.

"That might take a while," I told him.

"It most likely will. Me and Aelita have been working on it just about every day, but extra help would go a long way in finishing it," Jeremy said.

"You've got my help," I said immediately.

"Good. At least I know for a fact you can function without sleep for the most part," Jeremy said.

"I can function well enough as the living dead. I'll be fine when it comes to the late nights," I said, cracking my neck.

"You do realize if Jeremy has his way, you're going to look like zombies, right?" Ulrich asked with a small grin.

"I don't like it, but it's something that has to be done. Someone has to do the dirty work," I told him, making Jeremy smile at me.

"Well, at least you understand how important this is. Given how we have no access to Lyoko, therefore no towers to deactivate to stop XANA, I don't know what might happen," Jeremy said.

"Robert's right. Lyoko needs to be recreated if we're going to deal with XANA at all," Aelita said.

"We can compile the data later on today. Right now, I just need to get something to eat," I said.

"You read my mind," Odd said. With a knowing grin, we high fived each other while the others rolled their eyes.

"Shall we take you to an all you can eat buffet?" Jeremy questioned rhetorically.

"With those two, it won't be all you can eat after they're done with it," Aelita said, making everyone laugh.

"I'm not even going to deny that," I said, my head raised slightly in pride.

"Me neither," Odd said.

"Amazing. We have the very first human garbage disposals as friends," Yumi said, shaking her head.

"Odd and Robert here! You got it, we'll eat it!" Odd said, putting an arm around my shoulders with one of those smiles you see on cheesy promotion commercials.

"So... if they have a snake, will you eat that?" Jeremy questioned rhetorically, making everyone laugh.

"No thanks. Snakes give me bad indigestion," I said idly.

"Well, it's almost lunch anyway," Ulrich said, checking his watch.

"Let's go ahead and head down to the school then," Aelita said before looking at me. "And on the way, you can play something to keep us entertained."

"And I think I got an idea as to what. It won't sound as good cause I'm not on the right guitar, but I can try it," I said, taking a moment to get every note in my head together. I wanted to make sure I didn't forget anything.

I then began to strum Skillet's _Monster,_ but it didn't take long before I missed a note.

"Ok, playing while moving is harder than I thought," I said as I began to strum again. I lasted longer, but again, I messed up a note. "How do guitarists do this shit?"

"Probably because they've spent years practicing it?" Odd questioned rhetorically.

"It's like your hands end up hitting the wrong string given your movement," I said as I looked at the guitar.

"Try thinking ahead then," Yumi suggested. I nodded and tried to get my hands to and think ahead of the movements that caused the guitar as well as my hands to shift every time I took a step. That definitely helped, as things were definitely coming out smooth.

"That does not sound as good without an electric guitar," I said as I stopped playing.

"Do most of the songs you have in that brain of yours need one?" Ulrich questioned.

"Pretty much. Plenty of them fit in the metal category. But then again, I think it's just the fact that electric guitars amplify what the person is playing, and sounds different when amplified like that. I like them more than regular guitars because of that," I explained.

"So it would've been more useful to buy you an electric guitar," Ulrich told me.

"Well, not really. Electric guitars still need amplifiers and all of that," I told him.

"Regular guitars produce their sound acoustically with hollow wood or a plastic and wood box, while electric guitars produce their sound with a type of signal. The guitar only need an amplifier because the signal is too weak otherwise," Aelita explained.

"And that electric signal is far more intense than the wooden one. Makes sense, really," I said.

"Well, since most of the songs you play don't sound right with a regular guitar, how about a song we know?" Odd asked.

"I don't know a Subdigitals song like I know the songs I know. That's the only reason I'm able to play them half as good as I am," I told him.

"Then take the opportunity to practice," Ulrich told me.

"I could try. Wouldn't hurt," I said with a small shrug.

"I can go grab my albums," Ulrich said as we walked onto the grounds.

"Go ahead. Just meet me in my room," I told him. He nodded and ran off.

"I know I'm a liitle slow on the uptake to ask, but we actually need to work on getting Lyoko rebuilt," Jeremy reminded me, making me groan.

"Dammit," I said. But I knew this was important. "And Ulrich just went off too."

"We won't do it for too long. I know you just got out of the hospital, and I'm sure this is the last thing you wanted to do as soon as you got out. I could just use your help for a few things," Jeremy said, making me nod.

"Then I'll help," I told him.

"We'll head out for the factory then," Jeremy said.

"One thing though. There's a stop I want to make. I've been thinking about it for the last few days," I told him.

"What?" Jeremy asked.

"You'll see. Just... give me a few minutes," I said as I walked back to my dorm. I put my guitar under my bed and opened my drawer. I took out the promise ring I had kept in there and pocketed it. I had kept it in there for the longest. It was time to turn the page on this chapter of my life. Who knows who I would start dating after XANA was over. Because I knew I would have to hold out until then. If I wanted to have a stable relationship that wasn't laced with mistrust.

 _"Unless I dated Yumi. Or Aelita,"_ I thought before heading out of the room. The first one option didn't interest me. But the second one was... nice to think about.

"Calm your thoughts idiot," I said to myself as the door opened. I turned, and Ulrich had walked in with a record in his hand.

"Hey. Where are the others?" he asked.

"Elsewhere. The issue with rebuilding Lyoko came up, and I need to go help Jeremy with that," I told him.

"Well, it would've been nice to know this _before_ I went to go get the record," he said, his expression slightly annoyed.

"Yeah, Jeremy decided it was a good idea to bring it up after you walked off," I said.

"That's just perfect," Ulrich said before noticing my open drawer. "Looking for something?"

"Not really. I figured it's about time to give this up," I said, holding out the promise ring in my open palm. Ulrich looked at it before looking back at me with a smile.

"One step at a time, right?" he asked, making me smile as well.

"One step at a time," I said as I walked out of the room.


	38. Chapter 38 - Badge of Honor

Episode References: Double Take

* * *

"How long do you think it'll take for the upload to go through?" I said, having my head tilted sideways on my phone as I typed on the computer.

"A few minutes at the least, a half hour at the most. But we got the desert sector fully restored," Jeremy said. He was at the factory while I was sending data through his computer. His computer was more powerful than mine, so it would be more effective to use his while he handled things at the factory.

"That's good news, at least. What about those upgrades you were working for everyone?" I asked.

"Those are also in the works. I have to say, having some help on this really speeds everything," Jeremy said.

"I know. It's hard to do everything yourself. But sooner or later, things'll be right where they're supposed to be. With Lyoko restored and us kicking XANA's ass," I told him before sitting upright. "Anyway, I'll start working on restoring the mountain sector. You can focus on the upgrades."

"Will do. Thanks," Jeremy said, cutting off the call. I put my phone on my desk before cracking my knuckles. I had a lot of work ahead of me.

Code. I had seen a enough of it to last a lifetime. Even compared to a tech designer. All of the sectors were built on big walls of code, and each individual sector was built on very specific code. Atmosphere, setting, tower locations, etc. The code altered every now and then, but the structure was the same for the most.

The problem was that the coding went on for miles. Which is understandable because theoretically, the sectors are pretty much endless. The coding was more tedious and time consuming than it was difficult. Even if you could type fast.

 _"I'm in for a long few hours,"_ I thought as I took a sip from the bottle of water I had next to me. And I wasn't wrong.

I sat there for about two hours just typing away. I had long ran out of water, so there went any hope of hydration until I felt like getting up. But I felt like if I got up, I wouldn't want to come back. So staying was probably the better option. At least the music player I had in my ears was helping with the boredom.

I felt a tap on my shoulder all of a sudden, and I turned to see Aelita standing there. I removed my headphones while turning my neck.

"Where's Jeremy?" she asked.

"He's at the factory working on a few upgrades for everyone," I said as I turned my back and cracked it. Felt amazing. "Anyway, I'm busy myself. Writing the code the mountain sector takes forever."

"How long have you been here?" Aelita asked.

"Two hours," I said, rubbing my eyes.

"And you haven't eaten in that time period?" Aelita asked with a raised brow, making me laugh a little.

"Surprising, isn't it? Anyway, I..." I said before letting out a huge yawn. "I need to get back to work."

"Has Jeremy gotten to you?" Aelita questioned.

"A little. I know how important this is, and I know that even though he can do all the work himself, he shouldn't have to. So I at least want to finish the mountain sector by the end of the day. Or almost done with it," I said, starting to type again.

"When me and Jeremy worked on restoring Lyoko and Sector Five, it took about a week between the both of us working. Restoring the sectors won't take as much time, but it'll still take a lot," Aelita told me.

"I know that. It's all the more reason why I need to get a head start. I'm not going to skip class often like Jeremy does, but a lot of my free time is going to have to go into this," I said, turning back to the computer.

"It wouldn't hurt for you to take a break," Aelita said.

"I know it wouldn't. But I have the strangest feeling if I get up, I'm never going to come back," I said, making her laugh lighly.

"Oh, I know that feeling very well. Well, if you're set on this..."

"I am. I'm sure the others can provide some company. Feel free to stay and watch me code if you want. Or if you feel like helping Jeremy with his upgrades, that's cool too," I told her.

"I think I'll opt for hanging out with the others, thanks. But at least let me do you a favor," Aelita said.

"And that favor is?" I questioned, trying not to take my eyes off the computer. Then out of the corner of my eye, I saw her grab my water bottle.

"Since you feel like you can't leave the chair, I'll go refill this for you," Aelita said, making me smile.

"Thanks. Water helps with staying awake," I told her as she nodded and walked out.

 _"Boy, oh boy. I can't believe Jeremy could even think for a second stuff like this could remotely be counted as fun. Maybe I should introduce him to video games. They're not as good in this dimension, but I'm sure they have a few good ones,"_ I thought as I continued to type.

"You're welcome," Aelita said with a grin as she laid the bottle next to me.

"Thank you very much," I said as I cracked my knuckles. Then I saw her nick my headphones. "Hey, those help with the boredom. Go get your own."

"But yours are right here. It's convenient," Aelita said with a grin. "If you want them, I suppose you'll have to... get up."

"Then I suppose..." In a quick movement, I stood up from the chair and grabbed the player and the headphones before holding them out of her reach. She moved close while standing on the tips of her toes to try and reach, but I was too tall. I was grinning at her futile attempts.

"There's a reason knights protect princesses. We're imposing figures," I said right before her hands suddenly went for my armpits. That caught me off guard and I bent my knees from trying not to laugh, but it was all she needed to take them from my grasp. "Well played."

"I would like to think so," Aelita said right as I wrapped one arm around her waist and the other reaching for the headphones. Unlike her, I had the necessarily arm length to grab them from her when she tried to hold them out of reach.

"Stop. We're going to give this cord a shortage if we keep playing like this," I said with a small grin.

"We might. But I at least I got you to lighten up," Aelita said with a grin.

"Thanks. I needed that. I wish Jeremy had a more comfortable chair. That one is the devil," I said, pointing at the chair in question.

"It certainly doesn't look all that comfortable," Aelita said, tilting her head at it.

"It's not. Believe me. Save your butt the strain," I told her as I sat back down and got back to typing.

"I'll go meet the others. Do yourself a favor and try not to kill yourself working on the program," Aelita said.

"I definitely promise you that I won't do that. I like life. I love seeing the sun," I said dryly.

"Just making sure," Aelita said with a grin before walking out. I shook my head, still grinning as I went back to typing up the code.

 _"Something about this girl gets anyone to lighten up,"_ I thought cheerfully. I found that I wasn't having as bad of a time as before.

* * *

"Ok, I've had about all I can take," I said as I sat down for lunch.

"What were you doing?" William asked me. It took some insistence from Yumi most of all, but I insisted that William sit with us. If he was going to be part of the group, he needed to be treated like it. It would also help with seeing whether or not he was maturing enough to be allowed on Lyoko.

"Rewriting the mountain code sector. It's not so much difficult as it is time consuming," I said as I noticed we were minus one person. "Jeremy not coming?"

"Nope. I called him. He said he would rather spend the time working. At least you have the common sense to stop working every few hours," Aelita said, stabbing her food. The rest of us were all somewhat wide eyed by the bitterness in her tone.

"You know Einstein. He wouldn't be able to take a break if you paid him," Odd said somewhat jovially, trying to brighten the mood.

"Hey. What he's working on is important," I said, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"I know that. It's just... There are some things about him that I can't fathom for the life of me. It's why..." Aelita suddenly snapped her mouth shut, and I tilted my head and the gesture.

"What?" I asked.

"It's just... something I've been thinking about," Aelita said, turning away from me. I didn't miss the slight redness of her cheeks. Don't what she was thinking about that got her all flustered, but I would leave it be.

"Anyway, how's the code coming along?" Ulrich asked me.

"Do you remember Mrs. Hertz's two hour lecture last week?" I questioned.

"No. I was half asleep during the whole thing," Ulrich said.

"I didn't mean literally. I'd rather listen to that then type up the code. Because at least her lecture has an end in sight," I told him.

"That bad? We got that lecture earlier than you all did," William told me.

"Yes, that bad. But I'd rather not talk about that, and I'm not meaning to mimic Jim," I said, making everyone grin. "How about the rest of you? How'd you all get along?"

"I've been occupying my time with homework," Yumi said.

"Unfortunate. Odd?" I questioned.

"Been practicing fighting with Ulrich. I don't know why, but I decided to let him teach me a few things," he said, shaking his head.

"And how is your young grasshopper?" I questioned in a cliche Chinese accent, making Ulrich grin.

"He's fast and flexible, but he's horrible at picking up some of the moves," he said.

"Hey! I could be the next Bruce Lee if I wanted to!" Odd exclaimed, making all of us laugh.

"Yes Odd. I'm sure you could,"I said with a placating tone, reaching across the table and giving him a mock pat on the shoulder. Which made the volume of laughter increase.

"William?" I asked.

"Took a trip into town, got something to eat. And um... I picked this up," he said, handing me a badge of some sorts. But I grabbed it, and the material on it didn't feel fake. It felt real. I looked at him.

"What is this?" I asked.

"It's one of my grandfather's war badges. After he died, he left me a few," William said, making me try and hand the badge back to him.

"Oh, no. I can't take this," I told him.

"Yes you can. And you will. Not only do I have more than one from him, but you saved my life. You could've died for doing what you did," William said, his expression and tone never looking and sounding so serious. "Whether everyone knows it or not, you saved my life. And I caused the problem because of my own stupidity. All in all, I'd say you deserve it."

I looked at William before looking at the badge in my hand. It was a bit much to take in. This was the badge of a war veteran. The badge of a... hero. I could never think of myself as anything relating to a hero. More than anything, I just wanted to help my friends. And here I was being handed a war badge. Like I had done something to equate to that amount of hard work and suffering.

"Look, I'm sure if he were alive and knew what you did to save my life, he'd probably give you one himself. So just take it," William insisted.

"I'm... kind of lost for words," I said, looking back up at him.

"You don't have to say anything. I swear on everything I own that I will not let you down for deciding to trust me," William said firmly. Everyone was looking at him when he said this. And then I could see it. This type of... shift in him. This change.

"Then I'll hold you to that," I said, making him nod. I then pocketed the badge. I couldn't necessarily wear it. People would ask where it came from, and I didn't have an answer for that. But the gesture itself... that was more than enough.

"It seems someone else realized just how amazing you are," Aelita said with a gentle smile. I blushed slightly from the compliment, but a smile crept onto my face. That feeling... holy crap, that feeling. That was the warm feeling of being acknowledged. Except it was more intense.

"Thank you. All of you. I can't really stress this enough, but thank you. You've all changed me. Into someone that actually does something. Into someone that's willing to give everything to help someone besides himself," I told them.

"And we have to thank you as well. You've changed us all as well. You made us have to look beyond what we're used to seeing and make us look at the bigger picture. What else is out there," Aelita said.

"What else is out there..." For some reason, that statement stuck to me. And my eyes went to the pink haired girl in front of me.

 _"Nope. Nope. Now is not the time. Now is not the time to be crushing on one of your friends. You will fuck everything up if you do it,"_ my mind insisted. I forced myself to get my thoughts back to the present before I looked up and saw everyone staring at me curiously.

"I need a new word for overwhelmed, because that's what I'm feeling right now, only more intense. Before I came here, I would never think that I would actually do something like this. Saving lives and being appreciated like this. This feeling... there's no way to describe how good I feel to have friends like this," I explained. It was a bit of a redirect of my thoughts that I was trying to get in order, but the statement was still very truthful.

"No matter where we end up after school, we'll all be able to grow up knowing we did something worthwhile," Ulrich said.

"I think saving the world qualifies as something more than 'worthwhile,'" Odd said with finger quotes, making us all laugh.

"We all deserve medals for what we're doing. But we don't tell anyone. We do it in secrecy because it's the right thing to do," Yumi said.

"There's a saying I've heard before. 'Everyone eventually has to make a choice of what is right and what is easy.' Big or small," I told them.

"That statement is very true. Keeping all of this a secret and trying to balance a normal life is not easy," Yumi said.

"But it's the right thing to do," Aelita said, making all of us nod.

"How long have you all been doing this stuff?" William asked.

"Since the start of last year. We met Robert not long after," Odd said.

"That's a long time to be fighting this XANA," William said.

"It's worth it. It's all been worth it," I said, looking at the others. We all shared a knowing smile.

We all then continued to eat before starting to talk about, well, anything. Everything. It was those moments of normalcy that I loved. That were able to act like regular kids and pretend like we didn't battle homicidal AIs. I knew I went over this fact so many times, but it didn't make it any more meaningless. It just solidified the fact that I knew what we were doing was right.

The moment felt incomplete. That was probably because we were down one Lyoko Warrior and friend, who was still at the computer. Aelita had a point. It was really kind of impossible to comprehend what went on in Jeremy's mind. He was crossing a line between being driven and obsessed with taking XANA down. After a while, he may forget what it's like to be a regular person after XANA is gone.

"Boo!" Aelita exclaimed, making me have to restrain from acting on my reflexes.

"If I didn't know your voice, I would've smacked you so hard out of reflex," I said, trying to relax my muscles.

"You've been in deep thought a lot. Shall I offer a penny for your thoughts?" Aelita said, putting her chin on my shoulder as she looked at me. This looked so weird while were were walking. I didn't mind it as much as I should've.

"Well..." I didn't think it was the best idea to mention Jeremy considering what she said earlier. That bitterness was a bit uncharacteristic of her. "...I'm still thinking everything over. It's a lot to take in."

"What is? The fact William is showing the fact that he appreciates someone?" Odd said with a grin.

"Hey, I'm not afraid to tell someone I appreciate them!" William said in an indignant voice, making all of us laugh.

"He knows that. Since you're new to how Odd works, you'll have to realize that you never want to take Odd serious most of the time. To be honest, you should know that even though you're not in the group," Ulrich said with a grin. William shook his head, a grin creeping onto his face.

"True," he said as he pointed a finger at Odd. "I'll remember that."

"If I have it my way, you'll never know when it comes," Odd said with a grin.

"One thing I have to bring up. I know for a fact that Jeremy can't afford to miss track. He's been skipping Phys Ed a lot lately," Ulrich said.

"You're right. Call him about it," I told him as I took a seat on the bench.

"How far did you get on the mountain sector program?" Aelita asked me.

"Fairly far. The codes take forever to write, but I'm like a quarter of the way through. Recreating the entire sector is no cake walk," I said.

"I told you," Aelita said.

"Yeah, well... it has to be done. And there was only so much I felt like doing without feeling like I was going to die of boredom," I told her.

"I can take on some the workload tomorrow. Just show me where you left off on the code, and I can take it from there," Aelita said.

"Sure you want to spend a weekend working on that code?" I asked.

"I don't _want_ to. I'd rather play with the mixing board or help you with your guitar playing. But like you said. It's a necessary evil," Aelita said.

"It'll be over. Eventually," I said as I turned back to Ulrich, who was still on the phone with Jeremy. But not longer after I looked, he hung up. "What did he say?"

"He said something about improvising for the class. Whatever that means," Ulrich said.

"Probably make a duplicate of himself. Because of the extra tower encryption, he can certainly do it without XANA taking it over," I told him.

"That sounds about right," Ulrich said as he stood up while putting his phone in his pocket. "Anyway, we have a few minutes before we're due for Phys Ed. What should we do in the meantime?"

"Just do something until it's time to leave. Whatever Jeremy's going do, I'm sure it'll handle his situation well enough," Aelita said, making me nod.

We ended up near the vending machine where Odd was busy trying to get the damnable thing to work. Ulrich was next to him, and Yumi was showing Aelita something her phone. I was over at the side talking with William.

"You know dealing at you at times was like dealing with a very stubborn bull. But I have to say that you are changing for the better," I said with a smile.

"I feel like you would've been the only one to give me a chance," William said.

"Which is ironic because I was the main person out of all of us who wanted to keep you out. More than anything, I was looking out for everyone's best interests," I told him.

"But now..." William trailed.

"Now you may be able to help us instead of being an unwilling participant of hurting us," I told him.

"I would definitely prefer that," William said with a nod. I then looked over and saw Jeremy heading towards us.

"I don't believe it," Odd said.

"He sure got ready fast," Yumi said.

"Hey," I said, waving at him. But he took the can he was holding and kicked it multiple times before it landed in the bin. "I'm going to assume clone."

"What makes you say that?" the clone asked with a wide grin. But then my phone rung, and I immediately answered it.

 _"Yup. It's a clone,"_ Jeremy said over the phone.

"Thought so. You know Jeremy, you could just take a break," I suggested.

 _"I will once I finish the upgrades. Besides, you already know I'm not the biggest fan of Phys Ed anyway,"_ Jeremy told me.

"I know that, but still. It wouldn't hurt to visit," I said.

 _"I'm close now. I promise I will after this, alright?"_ Jeremy said.

"Alright. I'll leave you to it then," I said, hanging up the phone. I shook my head as I put it back in my pocket. "Well, I guess we're heading to class with..." I cut myself off as I saw Jeremy's clone against the wall while looking at Aelita, his glasses lowered. By the looks of things, Aelita was not very comfortable with the look.

"Um... what did I miss?" I asked.

"Apparently Jeremy's clone is the biggest flirt in the universe," Yumi said, jerking a thumb towards the clone.

"Alright, calm there Casanova. Just get ready for Phys Ed," I told him. He nodded and stepped back. Aelita gave me a grateful look, and I nodded before the bell rang. Perfect timing.

I changed into a light black T-shirt and sweat pants for the class, and I met up with the others for the class. Except Yumi and William. They had Mrs. Hertz's class right now.

I idly held my hands behind my back as I looked at Jim talking to Jeremy's clone. Jim never missed an opportunity to make a field day out of making Jeremy look bad every time he showed up. When he did show up. He didn't mind missing Phys Ed as opposed to his other classes.

"One of these days, you're going to burn up in all of that black," Aelita said with a grin.

"I like the color," I said with a smile.

"So it seems. I have to say, it would be refreshing to see you in something other than black, blue, and/or red," Aelita said.

"How about this. That day will come when you wear something other than pink. We'll make a day out of it," I told her.

"I'll take you up on that deal," Aelita said, holding out her hand. I shook it with a grin. It'd be an interesting day when Aelita shows up to school in something other than pink. I guess the same could go for me showing up in something other than black. I might just go with white as a stark contrast.

"Jim!" The voice of Mrs. Hertz suddenly pulled me out of my thoughts and I looked up to see her looking out of the window, an irritated expression on her face. "You're worse than those barbarians who burned down the Alexandria Library!"

"Thank you Susanne!" Jim said, raising two fingers.

"That's not a compliment," I told him.

"It's not?" he questioned. I groaned and shook my head. Jim turned back to pay attention to the clone Jeremy's excellent performance as far as his throwing arm. But that barely happened before my phone started to ring. "Yeah?"

 _"XANA's started an attack. Luckily enough, your program still holds as far as him trying to take over the tower. There was definitely an attempt to interfere with it,"_ Jeremy said.

"Alright. We'll get there as soon as we can," I told him.

"XANA?" Odd asked.

"Yup. We need to get to the factory," I said. Odd and Ulrich began to slide over, and I followed their lead.

"Stern! Della-Robbia! Morgan!" Jim suddenly exclaimed, making them stop in their tracks. "Go on! Pick yourselves a lane, and see how you are in the four hundred meters against Belpois."

"While he's focusing on us, you can slip out towards the factory," I whispered at Aelita before standing to my feet. I cracked my neck before walking onto the field. I then looked at Jeremy's clone.

"We need a way to slip out," I told him, making him smirk.

"Leave it to me," he said.

"On your marks. Get set. Bang!" he exclaimed before Jeremy's duplicate ran off in the blink of an eye. But instead of going forward, he went backward. And Jim was rendered unconscious soon after.

"That works," I said as Jeremy's clone pretended to fake concern for his unconscious state. It was a perfect distraction to get away.

"Those activated towers are dead useful," Ulrich said as we caught up to Aelita.

"Yes, they are. He'll keep everyone distracted while we can slip out with ease," I said.

"Was definitely a good idea to spend time on that program," Aelita said, making me smile as I removed the manhole cover. I took a last look around the area. Never knew if someone was tailing us.

But suddenly I found myself launching and I ended up landing in the water. My reflexes for swimming kicked in, and I made my way to the surface. I was even more grateful for those swimming lessons Jeremy gave me.

"Son of a bitch," I said, spitting water out as I climbed out on the side where I got knocked off. I looked over and saw Aelita running ahead while Ulrich and Odd were defending themselves against a possessed Jim. It seems he got away from Jeremy's clone.

I backed off before rushing in after Odd got kicked back. My first two punches were deflected, but I lashed out at his stomach with a kick as Ulrich kicked his leg and lowered him into a kneel.

"Let me try," Odd said, making me immediately move to the side. Odd ran up and jumped and dropkicked him in the face. Then I ran up to his face and jumped, my knee landing on his face with a crunch.

"Oh, Jim's going to hate me for that one," I said as shook my head free of water. Then I pooled the water out of my ears as Jeremy's clone caught up.

"I missed the fight?" Jeremy's clone asked, quickly catching up. "He caught me off guard."

"Yeah, he's out for now. But it's good to make sure he won't get up. Keep an eye on him," I said, making him nod. Then we continued towards the factory. I ended up removing my shirt and started wringing it out.

"Run into any... problems?" William questioned as he looked at me wringing out my shirt.

"He possessed Jim and caught up to us. I got knocked into the water. Once again, I thank you for those swimming lessons," I said.

"You're welcome. Aelita, are you alright?" Jeremy asked.

"I'm fine," Aelita said, waving a dismissive hand. I looked towards Yumi, who was looking away slightly. But she had a strange expression on her face. William had a similar one on his face.

"Why are you all looking like that?" I asked.

"It's not important. We need to get on Lyoko," Yumi said. But I had the strangest feeling she was holding back a laugh. But why?

"Yumi's right. William, I need you to stay here. My clone can definitely keep going, but there's a fairly high chance that Jim will be able to overpower him, so having you here to help defend is a good precaution," Jeremy said.

"Sounds like a plan," William said with a nod.

"And the rest of us will head to the scanners," I said I put my somewhat damp shirt back on.

Me, Aelita and Yumi were the first ones on Lyoko followed by Odd and Ulrich. I smiled as I looked at the others' redesigns.

"I see you finally got your reskins," I said with a smile.

"So did you," Aelita said, pointing at me. I looked down, and she was right. Rather than my traditional Ceremonial Jedi Robes that I had grown fond of, it was replaced something I liked a little bit more.

It was a lightly armored black ninja outfit that revealed nothing but my eyes. I was reminded of the vigilante outfit from the Arkham Origins game. Only it was something similar to black knight armor, rather than a full on ninja look with robes.

"This is fucking sweet," I said, admiring the look of the costume.

"Looks good," Aelita said with a nod.

"You don't look so shabby yourself," I said, crossing my arms and looking at her costume up and down.

 _"Don't stare too long genius,"_ I thought, mentally snapping myself out of my trance.

"These twin blades will definitely help. I can finally find out how useful it is," Ulrich said, looking at me.

"They're dead useful when things come down to the wire, trust me," I told him with a nod.

"I can definitely get down with this style as well," Odd said, looking at himself.

"I love that skirt Aelita," Yumi said.

"And those shoulder pads aren't bad either," Aelita complimented.

 _"Hey, you all can discuss fashion later. The activated tower is north by northwest,"_ Jeremy told us.

"Once we're done here, we'll discuss how fabulous we all look," I said in a cliche feminine voice while pretending to flip my hair, making everyone laugh. But Aelita hopped on my back while the others climbed on their vehicles as we went towards the tower.

"And there it is," I said as we began to approach it. Guarded by two mega tanks and four tarantulas.

"Looks like we got some company," Ulrich said as I ignited my sabers.

 _"Aelita, you've got some wings now. You can use them to help with getting an aerial advantage on the monsters,"_ Jeremy told her.

"Really?" Aelita said. "Well, how do I use them?"

 _"They should automatically deploy if you're falling out of the air, but I'm sure with practice, you'll be able to deploy them any time,"_ Jeremy said.

"I'll figure it out," Aelita said as she jumped from my back and her wings deployed.

"I hope you enjoy jumping from my back," I said as I threw out a push to briefly stun a tarantula that was shooting at me. I was deflecting rounds from the other tarantulas as I spun in the air and slashed the stunned tarantulas' target area before I flipped out of the way of a mega tank blast.

"They really don't like you, do they?" Odd said as he rained down arrows. He destroyed one tarantula with the volley.

"For good reason, I suppose. He must've thought he got rid of me," I said, charging energy in my hand. I then lashed out with the charged energy, knocking the remaining two tarantulas down and forcing the mega tanks to roll back a few meters. Then, putting my lightsabers on my waist while turning on my heel in a flourish, I lashed out with lightning and stunned the tarantulas. The mega tanks' protective shells prevented them from being stunned, so they opted on rolling towards me. I halted the lightning before jumping out of the way of the mega tanks, causing them to hit each other and bounce back.

"Stupid pinballs," I said as Ulrich leaped from his Overbike and ran towards the fallen monsters.

"Impact!" Ulrich exclaimed as he stabbed a fallen tarantula. Then he used his Super Sprint to run to the other one and then impale the other one.

"Good. Now the tanks," I said as one opened its targeting area to charge up for a blast.

"Oh, now you don't!" Yumi exclaimed as she threw a fan at the tank and hit its targeting area right as it deployed its blast. I easily side stepped the blast, but I felt myself being lifted off the ground as I was barely moved to the side to dodge the second one.

"That was oddly strategical on their part. Thanks," I said.

"Think of it as partial payment of the many times you've saved me," Aelita said with a grin as she summoned an energy ball to her hand while turning to face the tank.

"Duplicate!" Ulrich said, all versions of him helping to surround the tank. I smirked as Odd and Yumi floated side by side in front of the tank.

"Should I feel sorry for the poor thing?" I said, tilting my head at the tank.

"Nope," Aelita said as it opened up to fire a blast.

"Thought not," I said as activated a saber and threw it into the tank's target area in the blink of an eye. I then moved my arms as if a wave was traveling through them before turning on my heel and raising my hands in the air.

"What was that?" Aelita asked, looking at me with a hand on her hip.

"That was me actually enjoying the situation," I said as I jerked a thumb towards the tower. "But you've got business to take care of princess."

"Duly noted," Aelita said dryly as she went to go activate the tower. I looked back, and Odd was unmistakably smirking at me.

"What?" I asked, raising my arms.

"Oh, nothing," he said, turning away.

"Alright, I feel like everyone knows something I don't," I said, looking between everyone.

"That's because we do. Don't worry. We'll tell you at a later point if you haven't already figured it out," Ulrich said with a smirk, making me point a finger at him.

"Mark my words. I'll figure it out," I said.

"In all honesty, I hope you do," Ulrich said, making me raise an eyebrow. I had absolutely no idea what he meant by that. Knowing my luck, it would probably be something that's staring me right in the face.

* * *

A/N: I don't know anything about William's grandparents, so I could improvise for that scene. I liked writing it.


	39. Chapter 39 - Music and Reevaluations

A/N: Based off the episode "Opening Act." I'm putting these reference episodes down for the hell of it.

* * *

"You too, Aelita? How can you believe that stuff?" Jeremy asked.

"Cause it's true," I said idly as I took a bite to eat.

"It is?" Odd said, his expression turning excited in a heartbeat.

"Yup. And the uncle is Jim, in case you were wondering," I said once I swallowed.

"Jim?" William questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"Yup. Last person you would expect under normal circumstances, but again. I got foresight," I said, stretching as I finished my last bite. "He'll also be hosting a competition for someone to make something that Subdigitals can use for the start of their next performance."

"Oh, everyone's going to be lining up for a chance to win that," Ulrich said.

"Right. But I have faith that a talented little certain someone will be able to be to win it no problem," I said with a grin at Aelita. She looked away slightly while her face was a light red. I only grinned wider. "Trust me. I doubt anyone will make anything that'll compare to what you're capable of."

"You think I can do it?" Aelita questioned.

"I don't think. I know," I said, taking another bite of food.

"Well... what about you? Why don't you audition?" Aelita asked.

"Because not only would I prefer for you to win this rather than me, I can find a way to make these songs public. Maybe not as immediate as doing them for the Subdigitals, but I have time," I told her easily.

"Her time is better spent helping me with the digital ship," Jeremy told in an as a matter of fact tone.

"I can help you with that. Besides, there's time for that. This only happens once, and I would prefer if Aelita would go. Of course, the decision is up to her," I said, gesturing to her.

"I'd rather go to the audition. I can help you both with the digital ship right after if we have the time," Aelita said, making me nod.

"Sounds like she's got her game plan worked out," I said as I stood to my feet with my tray in my hands. "In the meantime, I'm going to hang out in my dorm and play some guitar. Jeremy, I'll meet up with you to work on the ship later on."

I dumped my tray and then walked off while cracking my neck.

 _"Aelita's getting closer to that music career she wants. It takes a little bit of pushing to convince her she's doing the right thing, but not much,"_ I thought _. "Speaking of music, guitar's becoming a reliable method for me to unwind. It's kind of weird."_

I walked into my room and grabbed my guitar from under my bed before lying down with my back propped up against the headboard. I should really invest in a case for this thing, but it sitting under my bed would have to do for now. At least there weren't cobwebs under there. There might have been if I still had my old room habits.

I found that strumming without thinking was the best way to get going, so that's what I did. And I began strumming "Lullaby of a Dead Man." Again, the song itself didn't sound right unless it was on the proper instrument, but even then, the song did come out rather smooth. I closed my eyes with my shoulders slumping in relaxation, and unconsciously, a soft sigh left my lips. I actually enjoyed this.

But before I knew it, the bell had rung. I barely started playing for a minute. Oh, well. Good things can never last. It was weird how this had all started out with Aelita making a program then it lead into this sudden... urge to play music. It was an urge that I blamed Aelita for. And myself, because who would've known I'd actually be into music like this. Then again, from I heard from Odd, he loved shredding the guitar. But there were other things he'd rather do. Not me. To me, this was peaceful. This was fun.

I shook my head before putting my guitar under my bed and walking out. I looked around, and my attention was peaked from the screaming I could hear coming from outside. I groaned.

"Please don't tell me that is what I think it is," I thought aloud as I rushed outside.

Rather than a XANA attack, it was just an army of students running after Jim. I frowned. What purpose would XANA have to go after Jim? Then it came to me almost immediately after the thought. Odd must've told everyone about Jim being Chris' cousin. Counting on Odd to keep anything secret was like asking him to keep a cake fully intact. Very improbable.

 _"All students, please head to the assembly room at this time. All classes will be canceled for the afternoon,"_ Delmas suddenly said on the intercom. I shrugged and walked off toward the assembly room. Chris was probably already here, so I was prepared to go deaf from all of the screaming that was sure to happen.

Taking a seat, I crossed my legs and put my hands behind my head before closing my eyes in relaxation. I started to hum to myself, my foot unconsciously tapping on the floor while I did it.

"Have a good practice run?" Aelita asked, followed by the others.

"Was nice while it lasted. Barely got to play for about a minute. It was a relaxing minute, but not enough time," I said with a shrug.

"And you won't have the time later considering the workload that's in front of you," Yumi told me.

"Ah, it's worth it. Sooner we finish XANA, sooner we get a lot more free time," I said casually.

"Even though that's likely for a while," Ulrich said as he took a seat. I couldn't even respond to that before I was nearly deafened by cheers. I looked up on the stage, and Chris walked on the stage with Jim. I had my fingers stuffed in my ears as I looked up at the ceiling. Minutes later, I felt my shoulder being tapped.

"Is it over?" I asked, making a minor look of disgust when I saw the earwax on my fingers.

"Yeah. You can get up now," Yumi told me.

"I also recommend you clean your hands before you head to my dorm," Jeremy said.

"Duly noted," I said before looking at Aelita with a smile. "Knock em dead."

Once I walked out of the assembly room, I went into the bathroom, washed my hands, then went to Jeremy's room. He wasn't there yet, so I had to wait a few minutes before he walked in the door.

"Alright, let's get to work. Where'd you leave off?" I asked, placing Jeremy's laptop on my lap.

"Well, I don't understand the nature of the transitional interface between Lyoko and the network. Even though I've gone over the flux many times," Jeremy said, pointing at the screen.

"We probably have to redirect the interface's flux towards the network. The problem is finding the direction. It's a lot like finding a path with no flashlight. For this situation, we'll have to make wild guesses to direct the flux's path straight into the network," I said, starting to type on the laptop with my forehead creased in concentration.

"I suppose so. You're right about that taking some time," Jeremy said before sighing. "Look, I need to ask you something."

"If it's about redirecting the flux, I'm sure with..."

"Not that. I mean... it's about Aelita," Jeremy asked.

"Oh. Well..." I said as I sat the laptop on the bed. "What about her?"

"I need to ask. What exactly is going on between you two?" Jeremy asked.

"Didn't we have this discussion during Valentine's Day?" I questioned with a raised brow.

"That was months ago. Things can change in the blink of an eye," Jeremy said.

"I promise you, I'm not dating her," I said honestly.

 _"But the thought sounds enticing, doesn't it?"_ a voice in the back of my mind said. I discretely kicked myself as I continued to focus my attention on Jeremy.

"Well, she does seem to take your side a lot in a lot of conversations. More often than not," Jeremy told me.

"Because I show her that she can do things she wants to do without needing to second think it. And I'm fully willing to compensate for anything that may have been filled by her presence. I may not be a beautiful strawberry top girl, but I do have a fairly high knowledge of Lyoko," I told him.

 _"Did you just say beautiful? How's that not dating idea coming along?"_ God, I swear I hated my mind sometimes. Cause of course I end up thinking more stupid shit than I was willing to admit. And every once in a while, I ended up saying it rather than just thinking it.

"Beautiful?" Jeremy asked with a raised brow.

"You can't deny that she's a good looking girl. I doubt you would disagree," I said easily. At least my mouth was well adjusted.

"I suppose not," Jeremy said. Had this been anyone else, I would NOT have been able to get away with that. Even then, I'm not sure I was even home free.

"Anyway, the direction that we have to redirect the flux to has to be found. Things will be fairly situated at that point," I told him, trying to get off this subject. "I could try to find the appropriate direction while you do the same. Two people working on the same goal will get it done much faster."

"Yeah. We'll get to work," Jeremy said, turning towards the computer.

After about a half hour, the door opened, and I was ready for a fight for some strange reason, but it was only Aelita.

"Whew. For some reason, I thought it was XANA. Auditions over already?" I asked, beginning to relax as I sat back down.

"Yes, but I need to show you something," Aelita said, pulling me by the arm. I had my heels dug in the ground as I looked at Jeremy then back to her. "Just come on!"

"Fine! Make it fast," I said, allowing myself to be dragged out of the room. "Christ almighty Aelita, you know I can walk, right?"

"Sorry, sorry. I just can't believe this happened!" she exclaimed.

"You won. I could've told you that," I told her.

"Not just that," Aelita said.

"Then what?" I asked.

"You'll see," Aelita said with a grin. She was obviously excited about something. It had to be something new. Something that obviously wouldn't have happened if I wasn't here. But how exactly was I involved?

"Check this out," Aelita said as she opened the door for me. She took me back to the gym where Chris was there waiting for us. I raised an eyebrow as he stood up to walk toward us with a wide smile.

"Are you Robert?" he asked.

"Yeah. What's this about?" I asked. He then raised the CD case that was in his hand.

"This is the song you two worked on together?" Chris asked.

"Um... which one?" I asked.

"Which one? You mean you have more than one made?" Chris asked with a raised brow.

"Tons of them. He just let me use that one," Aelita interjected. I had no idea what she was planning, but it was obviously making Chris excited. I was only getting more and more confused.

"Ok, mind telling me what's going on here?" I questioned with my arms at my side.

"Well, I'm happy to say that the both of you won. You two will be performing as our opening act," Chris said, making my eyes widen.

"Wait, what?" I questioned, my eyebrows raised in disbelief. "Run that by me again?"

"The both of you won. Aelita here told me about your hesitancy to get in front of a crowd. But in all honesty, it's something that just takes some getting used to. Plus I think a song like this wouldn't be the same without the participation of everyone involved in its creation. So get some practice in and try not to let the crowds get to you. We'll see you later down the line," Chris said.

I was stock still as my eyes looked between Chris and Aelita. I had no idea what to say or think. I was absolutely flabbergasted.

"I'll talk to him. I think he's excited beyond words. Thank you Chris," Aelita said with a wide smile.

"No, thank you two," he said as Aelita guided me out. I was finally able to snap out of my daze before looking at Aelita, pointing directly at her.

"You... you... you..."

"Me, me, me," Aelita said brightly. "I thought about it on the way here. So I stopped at the factory, picked up the song, gave it to Chris, and 'admitted' that you got cold feet."

"I... cannot believe this," I said, my tone still subdued.

"Well, believe that we're both doing the opening act," Aelita said.

"Which song did you even pick?" I asked.

"Courtesy Call," Aelita said. "It was a fairly reasonable song for people to do. At least this way we both have a start."

"You're crafty enough to be irritating, you know that?" I told her.

"I know," Aelita said with a bright smile. I grinned before shaking my head, the smile disappearing once the whole situation started to settle in.

"Oh, boy. You do realize that it is very possible for me to screw this up, right?" I told her.

"You won't. At the very _very_ least, you've proved that you're at least not tone deaf," Aelita said with a small grin before clapping her hands together. "Now... feel free to get back to helping Jeremy, but I suggest we pick days to practice. We can use the gym every now and then. Or maybe even practice at the factory."

"I suppose so," I said with a long, suffering sigh. "Since you, you know... kinda sucked me into this." She tilted her head before grinning widely.

"Oh, stop pretending like you hate the idea. There's that tiny bit inside of you that loves the chance to prove yourself," Aelita said, her index finger and thumb a centimeter apart.

"Damn you," I said, my mouth twitching from trying to hold back a smile.

"I'm too sweet to be damned," Aelita said with a grin.

"Well, of course. Your hair looks like a friggin' strawberry smoothie," I said, making her roll her eyes. "But that's besides the point. In any case, you are right. I suppose we do need to practice. But not today. Right now..." I was cut off by Chris walking out of the gym. At the same time, my phone started to ring. It was Jeremy.

"Hold on," I said to Chris before hitting the accept call button on my phone. "Hello?"

As soon as the word left my lips, I heard Aelita exclaim my name right before lightning hit my back and I launched face first into a tree. It took every fiber of my being to stay conscious.

 _"Oh, God. My nose feels like someone tried to shove it into my skull. My head isn't that far off,"_ I thought, trying to shake off the impact.

Looking around, I saw that Aelita was trying to hit Chris to make him put her down, but he only raised a hand and hit me into the chest, which knocked me back down again. My right hand trembled before I forced it to settle, balled it into a fist, and planted it knuckle first onto the ground to try and distract myself from the pain of the electricity. Looking up, I saw the possessed Chris launch a knee into my face. But I put my hands in front of it to soften the blow. Even then, judging by the sharp pain in my mouth, he chipped a tooth.

"Are you happy now that you're the only male with perfect teeth?" I said dryly before grabbing the branch next to him and taking his legs from under him. I caught Aelita before she fell. But the splitting pain in my head caught up to me as well as the burned area on my chest. I gasped in pain before falling to a knee while using the branch as support.

"How bad is it?" Aelita asked.

"At least you didn't bother to ask if I was hurt," I said with a small smile as I looked up to Chris, who was now in front of us. Like me taking his legs from under him would keep him down long.

Aelita tried swinging a rock at Chris, but he simply grabbed her arm and launched her towards the tree. She was unconscious immediately. A soft growl left my throat as I rose and aimed a kick at his sternum. He caught it up almost immediately.

While he was lifting me up to throw me, I swung my branch at his skull and he fell like a bowling pin. Seems like I lucked out and got a tough branch because it didn't break when I hit him.

"Have fun with that," I said as I clutched my head and tried to blink back the blurriness in my vision.

With considerable more effort than usual, I got Aelita up on my back while picking up my phone. Jeremy had hung up, so I could assume that he was calling the others.

 _"Robert, are you alright?"_ Jeremy asked once I finally got him on the line.

"The world around me is spinning, and carrying an unconscious Aelita does not help, but I'll live. You getting the others together?" I asked.

 _"Just called them. They're on the way to the factory as well as myself. Do you need help?"_ Jeremy asked.

"I could use some help of the activated tower kind," I admitted. "He hits me one more time, and I know I'll be down for the count. I can barely carry Aelita, who's dead weight at this point."

 _"I'll do that when I can. But you gotta hold out for a few minutes longer,"_ Jeremy told me.

"I don't think I have a few minutes before he's up and swinging again, but I'll try to oblige you," I said, hanging up the call before moving over to Aelita. Biting my tongue to ignore the drilling sensation in my skull, I gently put Aelita down before shaking her.

"Come on. Get up Lita," I said, shaking her urgently. A soft groan left her lips before she blinked her eyes open. "Are you alright?"

"I should be asking you that. He hit you pretty hard," Aelita said as she sat up.

"My head feels like it's going to split open, and it's getting even worse as the seconds roll by, but no big deal. I'm alive," I said somewhat dryly.

"Is everyone together?" Aelita asked.

"Yeah, they're all heading towards the factory now. Speaking of which, that's exactly where we need to go," I told her, causing her to nod. No more words were exchanged as we walked towards the forest. But I kept the branch in my hands. Like it was going to help with the way I was moving right now.

The sound of quick feet behind me caused me to turn around fast, but at the cost of my head nearly splitting open and making me lean forward on a knee. Yeah, I wasn't winning against XANA in this fight.

"Whoa. I'm glad Jeremy called me. Are you alright?" William asked me, coming up to me and helping me to my feet. Thank God I lucked out.

"He's not. XANA knocked him into next week," Aelita told him.

"Well, thank you for making me sound weak," I said somewhat dryly.

"You're one of the strongest people I know, so that's a bit of an insult," Aelita said before turning to William. "I'll help him to the factory. You just watch for XANA."

"Will do," William said with a nod as he grabbed the branch from my grasp. I made to open my mouth, but I was distracted by Aelita using leaning one of my arms onto her shoulders and using her arms to help support me up.

"All I need you to do are to move your legs," Aelita said.

"I can do that," I said as we began to move.

As we were walking, my nose caught up on a scent. What was that, apple? I sniffed the air, and it wasn't coming from there. All I smelled was fresh air and pine. Don't know why I was distracted by smells, but somehow, it kept everything from coming out of focus. It was weird how I was attracted to the smell.

"Smell something?" Aelita asked me.

"If you mean besides forest smells, yes. Apple. I know it's a strange thing to focus on, but weirdly enough, the world around me isn't spinning as much. That you?" I asked.

"Actually, yes. Shampoo Yumi gave me. She said it gave me the chance to not look _and_ smell like a strawberry," Aelita said, the both of us chuckling at the thought.

"I don't care what you smell like. You are forever cursed with the nickname Strawberry Top," I said with a grin.

"Only cause you're not creative enough to come up with something else," Aelita said with a smirk.

"I certainly doubt anything I come up with will stick as much as that does," I said.

"Well, give it a college try. What can you make up with apple?" Aelita asked.

"Are you two seriously talking about nicknames for what Aelita smells like?" William asked. If I could turn, I would glare at him. I just noticed how that sounded. And I was pretty sure he was insinuating what I thought he was insinuating. But I couldn't lie that my cheeks were significantly hotter than before.

"Hush you," Aelita said before looking at me. "Go ahead." Before I could even say a word, William was blasted in front of us by lightning. He moved to get up while I turned and pushed Aelita away from me, leaving me to take the full brunt of XANA's tackle. I was knocked unconscious before I even hit what was behind me.

In no time at all, I was conscious and moving. I could see that William was defending himself against XANA as I rose up. Seems I was powered by the tower now. In that case...

I charged an electric energy ball in my hands and it sailed at XANA very quickly. He turned just in time to see the electric energy ball knock him back and send him sailing through the air like a crash test dummy and through a tree. I smiled and fist pumped from the side.

"Bullseye," I said as I helped William to his feet.

"When will I get a turn being charged like that?" William asked as Aelita came up to us.

"Take it up with Jeremy. But for now..." I said as I effortlessly put Aelita and William over my shoulder, much to their shock before speeding off towards the factory.

"Hey! I can walk, you know!" William exclaimed.

"But this is faster," I said with a grin as I stopped them in front of ladder that lead directly to the tower. I then got Jeremy on the phone. "Excellent timing with the tower Jeremy."

 _"Glad I got it to you. Are you almost here? Ulrich and the others are doing good, but they're being held at bay by... a hell of a lot of crabs,"_ Jeremy said after a pause.

"If you're cussing, that's definitely a lot of crabs," I said, blinking in a perplexed fashion at his use of the word.

 _"I blame you for getting me in the habit in the first place,"_ Jeremy said.

"I got everyone into cussing, so don't feel bad. It's all a part of my corrupting charm," I said with a grin.

"That is, if you had any charm in the first place," Aelita interjected with a grin.

"Oh come on. Like..." I immediately dropped my phone and grabbed the hands of a charging XANA. I imbued my arms full of electricity before kicking him in the face hard. XANA flipped midair to recover quickly and shot a bolt of lightning at me, but I imbued my hand with electricity and it had no effect. I then looked towards the others.

"Get to the factory," I told Aelita and William as I held an electricity stream he shot at me. He suddenly stopped the flow before launching energy balls at me. I tanked a few of them to my chest before summoning an electric tesla to my hand and wrapping it around XANA's neck before he could react. Immediately, I put all of the energy that I had into the tesla. His body convulsed before crumbling to the floor.

"It's amazing. People turned convulsing in pain from electricity into a dance and called it the Harlem Shake," I said with a grin as I shook my head. Then I winced a little as those electric bombs caught up to my chest. "I swear, people can do some of the strangest things." I then picked up my phone while kicking XANA's immobile specter.

 _"I can assume you're back?"_ Jeremy asked.

"Apologies. I keep getting interrupted by a rude ass bitch. In any case, he's not going anywhere right now," I assured him. "I'll head to the factory, you can transfer me to Lyoko, then William can get the Tower Power."

 _"Not the cleverest rhyme scheme, but appropriate. See you when you get here,"_ Jeremy said before hanging up the phone. I climbed the ladder back up and in less than a minute, I was riding the elevator up to the others.

"That tower code is amazing. Now XANA truly doesn't have much of an advantage because we've got the same powers he's got," I said, cracking my knuckles as I walked up to Jeremy.

"And because of that stroke of genius, you make fighting XANA in the real world a lot less lethal for everyone," Jeremy said as he typed on the computer. "Get ready. I'm extracting the enhancement code from you."

As soon as he said that, my body twitched slightly before I looked down at the ground and back up suddenly, the inky substance leaving my mouth. Once it was all the way out, the room immediately spun and I struggled to keep my balance.

"Oh, right. I'm still injured," I said as I clutched my head and tried to shake the fatigue off. "Luckily, it's nowhere near as bad as before. Seems being powered by the tower gradually heals any injuries you may have gotten. Not fast, but you do start to feel better."

"Are you in any condition to go to Lyoko?" Jeremy asked.

"Yeah, I should be fine," I said as I stood up straight and started heading towards the scanners. "Ok. I'm in."

 _"One moment. Transferring the code to William right now... Ok..."_ Jeremy trailed. _"Alright, now I'm ready. Transfer Robert. Scanner Robert. Virtualization."_ I swear, those words would never get old when my name was put into the fray. Because before I came here, I would have never imagined that me out of all people would be here fighting XANA with the Lyoko Warriors. _My best friends._ I know I went over it like twenty million times in my head, but I could never stop thinking about it.

Upon transferring, I immediately noticed that I was above a crab. I summoned my lightsabers to my hand and threw one into the target area of a different monster before using my remaining one to impale the one under me. I looked up when I felt hands grasp my shoulders, and saw that it was Aelita with a smile on her face, pink wings flapping behind her.

"Rain hell," she said, which made me grin even wider than her.

"Like you even had to ask," I said before putting my lightsabers on my waist and shooting lightning at the crabs below me, the electricity chaining to each and every one of them. Two lasers hit me when the crabs managed to get a few shots off before I stunned them, but I held the lightning flow.

"Thanks for the set up!" Odd exclaimed before climbing up a tree and jumping off as far as he could while raining arrows. Yumi was on the Overwing and Ulrich was running on ground level towards the crabs with two clones appearing at his side almost instantly.

Odd fired off a rapid volley of arrows while he was in midair and Yumi used the vehicle as an advantage to line up the crabs so that her fan would hit as many as possible with one throw. Between them and Ulrich along with his clones severing the legs off any crab they got near and impaling them, what was once a line of twenty crabs soon turned into a pile of nothing. I canceled my lightning immediately and I jumped out of Aelita's grasp with a front flip before landing neatly in front of Ulrich and Odd.

"Good work," I told them.

"You as well. That lightning really helps out. Makes them real easy to destroy. The only problem is avoiding getting hit while you're doing," Ulrich said, sheathing his swords.

 _"Good work everyone. Now..."_ Jeremy was cut off by the sound of William yelling, and an impact of his body hitting the wall shortly following after.

 _"This is a lot harder than he makes it look! How do you use the electricity?!"_ I faintly heard William yell.

 _"You might wanna hurry up with that tower. It seems..."_ Jeremy was cut off by a yell from his own throat which made my eyes widen.

"Jeremy? Jeremy! Jere- shit," I said as I turned to the others. "Let's get going. Aelita, you staying in the air?"

"Yes. I can cover you guys a lot better from up here," Aelita said. I nodded and didn't ask any more questions as Odd got on all fours and Ulrich went into Super Sprint while I used Force Sprint and Yumi was riding on the Overwing.

 _"That was strange. I don't like it,"_ Jeremy said as he got back on the microphone.

"Jeremy? You alright?" I asked.

 _"I'm fine. I don't understand why though. He just ended up letting me go... oh, boy,"_ Jeremy said.

"You're done a lot of that today. What's the problem?" Aelita asked.

 _"He set up a timed transfer to Lyoko. It finished before I could take it down,"_ Jeremy said.

"Wait, are you saying XANA's specters can be sent to Lyoko?" Odd asked.

 _"I certainly hope not. Still, eyes open. Never know what this might mean. Robert?"_ Jeremy asked.

"I got nothing. Well, there was that one time he made a specter of Odd and he came onto Lyoko with us thinking it was him," I told him.

 _"And in this case, he can change to anyone he desires. So keep your eyes open,"_ Jeremy said.

The presence of the specter became known once we stopped in front of the tower. He was standing there with Yumi's appearance, fans at the ready and four tarantulas next to him. Or rather, her. XANA was only really defined by gender when he took on the look of a male or female. Even though everybody pretty much referred to XANA as a he.

"Why me?" Yumi questioned.

"Maybe he was ogling your chest while waiting for us," I said idly as I drew my black saber to my hand and ignited it.

"Sounds like something Odd would do," Aelita said with a roll of her eyes.

"Hey! I resent that!" Odd exclaimed.

"Get them!" XANA said in a voice that was like Yumi's, but not quite.

"But she's not wrong," I said before jumping at XANA and coming down with a strike. XANA held his first fan out straight to hold my saber at bay, but was easily failing to hold up against the sheer force of the blade. I was forced to grab her hand when she took a swipe at my side with the second fan. Judging by the sound of lasers, the others were fighting the tarantulas.

"You may have Yumi's looks..." I said before turning my saber in a stylish twirl, nicking her hand, and flip kicking to knock her in the air before jumping to dropkick her while she was in midair. It felt like one of those Dying Light dropkicks from how far she flew and how elegant it felt to do it. I flipped to my feet with a smirk on my face.

"...but none of her skill," I finished as I sized him up. "Yumi's" eyes narrowed before her form shifted into Ulrich and he made two extra duplicates of himself. I simply moved my neck to the side and cracked it. "Let's go."

The clones moved first in a ninja sprint similar to Ulrich's while having both swords out. I slid under the blows using my knees before immediately getting up and spinning in a circle several times as a form of an attack. Then I held the clone's first two blades with my saber, seemingly struggling for dominance. When the second clone tried to hit me, I smiled.

Using the clone's body for leverage, I pushed my body up and was still holding onto his wrists as my body hung in the air, making him impale his fellow clone instead of me. Luckily on Lyoko, weight never made sense. I was certainly willing to take advantage.

Jumping off the clone before he disappeared, my saber came in contact with the last clone's two blades while I was in the air before I was locked in combat with him immediately.

My saber deflected his attacks as I was significantly faster, but I knew that the real specter would be incoming fast. Better to end this quickly. So when I did a hard strike with the purpose of locking his first saber in place, I held his second hand before twirling my saber in a circle that would either have disarmed you or made you lose a hand. I chose the second option. It was a move I had scene in Star Wars plenty of times. Specifically in the Vader and Luke duel on Bespin.

Trying to rid my mind of what I dubbed "Nerd Mode," the blow made the clone's second hand fall slack, so I smoothly turned on my heel before impaling him in the stomach and kicking his body off my saber as he disappeared in midair.

Then I turned and saw XANA jumping at me with both swords coming down on my head. I opted for a simple counter and Force Pushed him away from me and into a tree. His face slightly grimaced in pain before the XANA symbols in his eyes were locked on me, narrowed in anger. He lifted a sword and pointed at me before kneeling with the blades at his side. I raised an eyebrow at his movement before he propelled forward, his swords making contact with my lightsaber hard.

"You seem upset," I said idly before I started deflecting immediately, his blades coming at me much faster than his clones.

 _"Form III. Soresu. The Resilience Form. Soresu relies on tight bladework and subtle dodges to provide maximum coverage,"_ I recited in my head. _"Employ that now."_

Tightening my hold on my saber, I waited for him to come at me rather than being the aggressor. God, I was such a Star Wars nerd it wasn't even funny. But what was also slightly badass, was that because I knew the principles of blade combat, I could employ these techniques into my actual fighting style. All it took was a sharp mind and a practiced hand. Of which I had both while fighting.

He swung his blades in a horizontal position while coming from both directions. My answer was to duck under the blades before they came down on my head, which forced me to dodge back afterwards for extra breathing room. A small growl came from XANA's throat as he advanced forward, using my one blade to quickly deflect his attacks. I had a second blade, but I didn't need it yet.

We traded blows; my saber making contact with each of his swords. There was only the sound of a lightsaber against another, but at the same time, a sound of metal scraping against a surface. At least the sounds were fairly authentic.

Finally, there was a mistake on XANA's part. He put way too much effort into one of his blows while his second one came around too slow to account for the recovery. A swift slash upward, and he had lost a blade before my saber was pressed against his remaining one. I elbowed him in the face to get him to back off before breathing in before holding my saber in front of my face.

 _"Form VII. Juyo. The Ferocity Form. The most vicious of the forms, and the one that requires the most focus,"_ I thought as I relaxed my nerves. " _No talking. Only focus on what you're doing."_ Then I was the aggressor as I hit my saber against his blade hard once I breathed out.

Pressing attack immediately, I traded blows with him at a blinding speed. Our blades met pointed at the bottom before we both immediately shifted them by a one hundred and eighty degree angle and met on the opposite side several times before I met his blade when it tried to go around. Then I took the opportunity to land a kick to his stomach. Rather than stun him, it seemed to propel him and he came back at me with ferocity before I kicked him again. Harder this time. That knocked him into the tree behind him, and he quickly shook the stun off.

Raising my blade above my head as he sized me up, we trade blows while they were raised high before I spun on my heel, my eyes serious. We traded a blow before I jumped on the tree, deflected the blow he aimed at me before coming down on him hard with a heavy strike. The blow seemed to stun him and I came down with another hard blow. He lashed out at my knee, and caught me with it, but I stumbled instead of falling. He came around with a side strike, but my blade was already there.

"Not good enough," I said simply as I rose myself back to level footing while twirling my saber. I tilted my head as he came at me again.

I raised my saber up and down to deflect his strikes, turning my heel while deflecting another strike before turning back around and slamming my blade against him hard before kicking him in the face while my blade followed with an upward slash. Had this been real life, there would've been two halves of him staining the grass under me. But he simply disappeared. I turned and saw that the tarantulas were destroyed and my friends were watching me.

"That was fun," I said idly, twirling my black blade before deactivating it. I then looked at Aelita. "Going for the tower?"

"Now I am. I just wanted to watch how that ended," she said as she walked towards the activated tower.

"Strange how he fights. Almost like an elegant way of brute force. But brute force is sloppy. That's why I prefer lightsaber styles. A more elegant and controlled way to fight," I said as I looked over the blade in my hand.

"There are styles to it?" Ulrich asked.

"You can thank the deep lore of Star Wars for that. I thought it only fitting to base my way of fighting off the styles that they use for the weapon. Doing the lore justice, if you will," I told him.

"I'm interested to hear about it later. As you've ranted about it many times, I'd like to think you know this lore better than anyone," Ulrich said.

"Well, maybe not anyone, but I know it pretty well. The interesting stuff at least. Which, to be honest, is most of it," I told him.

 _"Aelita's deactivated the tower. Do we need to..."_ Jeremy suddenly stopped.

"How many times are you doing to do that?" I said. He had been cutting himself off a lot today.

Suddenly, I saw the familiar white of the Return to the Past. I blinked when I saw that I was in the familiar setting of Jeremy's room when we were working.

"If you're wondering why we transferred back, it turns out that Jim and the real Chris seemed to have followed you all," Jeremy said.

"I was too out of it to think to check for followers," I told him. "Could've saved us a trip."

"Not your fault. Besides, one good thing can come of it. Gives you an opportunity to make that audition," Jeremy said, making my eyes widen.

"Jeremy..."

"You plan on going through with this music career? Or was that just something you said to get Aelita off your back?" he asked bluntly.

"I am. But..."

"Then go. Prove to yourself that it's worth doing. I can handle this," Jeremy assured me. Suddenly my heart started speeding up at the thought of singing to someone who was an impartial source of judgement. While it was necessary, the idea that I was wasting my time on this was also terrifying. But hell. If I can man up to the prospect of dying alone, then I can do this. Granted I had no choice in the first situation and on this one I do, but that's besides the point.

"You're right. You're right," I said softly before nodding. "I'll tell you how it went. Thanks." With heavy legs, I stood up and walked out. I took a deep breath and calmed down.

 _"Let's see if this was an awful mistake,"_ I thought as I approached the gym. The line was almost done, and Aelita was way at the back, her expression cool and relaxed. Seeing the relaxed confidence, but not arrogance on her face made me smile a little. At the very least, if I was ever slacking in my role, I had someone with actual talent next to me.

"I hope you're not going to start without me," I said, managing to smirk. It briefly drowned out the sensation of fear. When she looked up and saw me, her eyes widened in surprise.

"You're here," Aelita said, her tone slightly subdued.

"Well, I am now," I said as the last person walked out of the gym. I then gestured to the entrance with a slight incline of my head. "Shall we?" The surprise turned into a bright look.

"Let's," Aelita said with a similar tilt of the head before waking inside. Once I was in that gym, my relaxed demeanor quickly began to unravel before it shifted into nervousness.

 _"How much longer before it turns to panic?"_ I thought.

"Well, this is the first duo I've seen today. I guess no one else wants to share the fame," Chris said, his smile growing slightly wider. I swallowed a little too hard. "Nervous?"

"Er... a little," I said, trying to clear my throat. "But I know what I'm here to do."

"Alright. So what are you two playing?" Chris asked.

"Actually we're going to sing something," Aelita said. Chris raised his eyebrow briefly before it turned slightly disappointed. Why was that?

"This competition is for original work only, if you need a reminder on that," he told us.

"We're aware of that," I said evenly. "What we're going to sing is original." To this, he raised his eyebrows in slight surprise.

"Well, that certainly takes some talent. Even I wasn't writing songs until I turned eighteen," Chris said before his expression turned pleased. "Before you start, I would appreciate a few questions."

"Go for it," I said, my fears being eased somewhat.

"Who wrote the song you two are singing?" Chris asked.

"He did/I did," Aelita and me said at the same time. We looked at each other before she smiled before we looked back at Chris. He looked at me, his expression more intense.

"What is it called?" Chris asked.

"Courtesy Call," I said as he rose to his feet and put the CD in the player. He paused for a second, listening to the music for a few seconds. It was amazing that a rockstar like Chris could have such a serious expression. Then again, this was his profession. He took it very seriously.

"I like the instrumental aspect of it. But the words are what truly make a song. Now the two of you can feel free to demonstrate," Chris said, going back to his chair and relaxing as soon as he rewinded the tape.

"So how are we doing this? You first, then me, then we take turns?" Aelita whispered.

"We should've definitely done some rehearsing," I said dryly, making her laugh.

"That would've made this easier. But we gotta find some kind of order," Aelita said.

"We both start out the first verse. After that, I'll give you a sign," I told her. She nodded before the song started.

 _"Lord, be with me,"_ I thought before we started singing.

 _Both: Hey-o, here comes the danger up in this club  
_ _When we get started, we ain't gonna stop  
_ _We gonna turn it up, 'till it gets too hot  
_ _Everybody sing, hey-o  
_ _Tell 'em turn it up 'till they can't no more  
_ _Let's get this thing shakin' like a disco ball  
_ _This is your last warning, a courtesy call_

I gave her hand a squeeze while giving her a subtle look. It was the only idea for a subtle change of pace that I had. I couldn't exactly tell her 'go' in the middle of the song.

 _Aelita: Hey-o, here comes the danger up in this club_  
 _When we get started, we ain't gonna stop_  
 _We gonna turn it up, 'till it gets too hot_  
 _Everybody sing, hey-o_  
 _Tell 'em turn it up 'till they can't no more_  
 _Let's get this thing shakin' like a disco ball_  
 _This is your last warning, a courtesy call_

I grinned. At least for a brief moment. I actually needed people to confirm that I had talent as an artist. Aelita was not such a person. She was confident in her own right that she was talented, and she used that; executing her vocals without fail. Or in short, she had a damn good voice.

 _Aelita: I am not afraid of the storm that comes my way_

I gave her hand another squeeze; slightly harder than the last. It was a sign that I wanted her to stop and for me to go. The part I planned on going was brief, but I was going to put everything into it.

Me: _When it hits, it shakes me to the core_  
 _And makes me stronger than before_

A soft squeeze. Now I was smiling naturally. Chris' face was still impassive, but I was taking that it was so far, so good.

 _Aelita: It's not a question about trust_  
 _But will you stand with us?_  
 _Can you feel it?_  
 _Make it real and_ _I think it might wash away tonight  
_ _Awakened from this never ending fight  
_ _It takes more than meets the eye  
_ _This war we're fighting is not just writing_

This time, I tapped her hand with two fingers. It was a signal that I wanted the both of us to go again. She was reading these excellently so far.

 _Both: Hey-o, here comes the danger up in this club_  
 _When we get started, we ain't gonna stop_  
 _We gonna turn it up, 'till it gets too hot_  
 _Everybody sing, hey-o_  
 _Tell 'em turn it up 'till they can't no more_  
 _Let's get this thing shakin' like a disco ball_  
 _This is your last warning, a courtesy call_

We had a proper system going at least. It was at least good enough on the fly.

 _Me: There's a rumble in the floor_  
 _So get prepared for war_

 _Aelita: When it hits, it'll knock you to the ground_  
 _While it shakes up everything around_

 _Me: But survival is a must_  
 _So will you stand with us?_  
 _Can you feel it?_  
 _Make it real and_  
 _Make me feel it  
_ _I think it might wash away tonight  
_ _Awakened from this never ending fight  
_ _It takes more than meets the eye  
_ _This war we're fighting is not just writing_

Oh, this was a part I enjoyed. All we really had to do was lower our voices for the same lyric, but I still liked it.

 _Both: Hey-o, here comes the danger up in this club_  
 _When we get started, we ain't gonna stop_  
 _We gonna turn it up, 'till it gets too hot_  
 _Everybody sing, hey-o_  
 _Tell 'em turn it up 'till they can't no more_  
 _Let's get this thing shakin' like a disco ball_  
 _This is your last warning, a courtesy call_

Now the both of us were looking at each other and grinning, nodding our heads to the beat. I ended up forgetting about the nervousness as soon as we got a good start. This... this was awesome.

 _Me: Hey-o, here comes the danger up in this club_  
 _When we get started, we ain't gonna stop_  
 _We gonna turn it up, 'till it gets too hot_  
 _Everybody sing, hey-o_  
 _Tell 'em turn it up 'till they can't no more_  
 _Let's get this thing shakin' like a disco ball_  
 _This is your last warning, a courtesy call_

The song faded and I cut the player off before we looked at Chris. I still couldn't stop grinning. Hell, I felt like did a damn good job. Well, maybe not as much as the person next to me, but still good.

"So? What do you think?" Aelita asked. Chris stood to his feet, and I watched him somewhat warily as he approached us. Then he grinned.

"I think we got a winner," he said with a smile.

"Yes!" I said, raising my hands in the air. Aelita locked me in one of those tackle hugs of hers, and I returned it. It was weird how winning a competition felt like some sort of high. One that I was not coming down off of any time soon.

"I'll let you know the details once everything's all set up. And you," Chris said, pointing at me with a wider grin. "Excellent song writing, I must admit. I can assume you're the life of the party once you get going."

"What can I say?" I said in a confident voice. Which was a direct contrast from how I felt a few minutes ago. "I'm just that awesome."

"How modest," Aelita said, making me look at her with a grin.

"Modesty is overrated anyway," I said, the grin shifting to a smirk.

"In any case, you both earned this," Chris suddenly said. "Also, it helps that the crowds eat up the idea of a couple duet. The public loves that." The smirk on my face immediately disappeared as I looked at Aelita, who looked the same way I did. She looked away with her cheeks being a bright red, and I was in the exact same situation.

 _"How is it that one simple statement changes the whole situation?"_ I thought before finding my voice. "I... um... well..." Oh, yeah. I really found my voice there.

"Oh, I get it. Not yet, huh?" Chris asked. I had nothing to say. "Well, I'm ready to announce you two as the winners. So if you two would follow me..."

I glanced at Aelita at the same time she did. Her cheeks were still a little red, so she was just embarrassed about the situation like I was. I gave her a reassuring smile, and she soon returned it. I enjoyed seeing her smile. She did it a lot, but it was still a pleasant sight.

"Fuck I'm in trouble," I mumbled to myself.

"What was that?" Aelita asked.

"I feel like I'm getting some stubble," I said, raising my chin. "See any?" My mouth seemed to be able to compensate for anything may idiotic mind may have made me say.

"No. At least not while we're walking," Aelita said, her eyes squinted slightly as she looked at my chin.

"That's somewhat disappointing," I said evenly.

"If it helps, I think you would look better with a smooth chin anyway," Aelita said with a grin.

"That helps a little," I said with a smile before thinking as an afterthought, _"While I think you just look good in general."_

I hate my mind. I hate it. If I could live without it, I'd cut it out. I always ended up thinking things that I didn't want to think about. Or at the very least, did not help my situation.

 _"But all in all, are ultimately true."_ As much as I wanted to, I couldn't refute that. Most of the time I kept going back over things that I thought were true at the time. Most of the time.

 _"Get the facts straight. That's what needs to be done. Jeremy likes Aelita. The feelings are mutual. When those two are put together, there's no point in trying to go after the girl. Especially when the guy happens to be one of your best friends,"_ I concluded.

 _"You can'_ _t get if you do not give, or in this case, try. If you simply lay down and accept things the way they are, then they will never change,"_ another part of my mind seemed to refute.

 _"But is the point of trying to refute or change what is hard, solid fact?"_

 _"We all know emotion trumps logic most of the time. It's why a lot of people do the things that they do."_

 _"But there is the undeniable fact that attempting this will not only set yourself up for disappointment, but even if by some miracle that she would return these feelings, would you truly want to knowingly stomp on your friend's feelings? You more than almost anyone knows how he feels about Aelita. It'd crush him."_

Facts were cold. Absolutely freezing cold. I don't want to hurt my friend because of some random, sudden crush that just sprang up. Jeremy cared for her that way longer than I did.

 _"But does he even show it? Many times he has shown that he doesn't agree with where Aelita focuses her talents, and just her focus in general. Not only that, but he seems completely blind to the fact that she is very obviously crushing on him and doing nothing. So does he really like her as much as you think?"_

That thought in itself was a mix of emotion and logic. And I had no way to answer it. It was strange that I was thinking of this now. Months gone by since I had held a girl closely, intimately. Kissed them until breathing almost felt secondary to my baser urges. Time I spent with Emily, my first real relationship. Then it was ruined by my unfortunate situation of battling XANA with the inability to tell her.

Even then, I'm not sure that me and Emily so much talked as we did kiss and go places. I remember on one date I brought up a question about her view on paying for dates as a form of discussion, but initially, she seemed very uncomfortable to discuss anything similar. Maybe that's why I seemed to immediately focus on pawing her like some sort of territorial animal rather than following up with more questions. I didn't even bother to see if she was answering honestly rather than telling me what she thought I wanted to hear.

I swallowed the grunt of irritation in my throat. All this thinking was making my head hurt. How I wanted to shift my relationship with Aelita(possibly). The effect it would have on Jeremy. What exactly my last relationship with Emily meant. So much thinking. So much reevaluation. And I didn't have a single answer for any of it.

"Come back down to earth with us mere mortals," I faintly heard Aelita joke, which caused me to blink. I looked to the side as we entered the assembly room, but before we followed Chris inside, Aelita stopped me and looked at me seriously. "You alright?"

"I'm fine. Just... doing some thinking," I told her.

"You look pretty out of it. I mean... if it's about the show..."

"No. It's just about some other important things in my life. Kinda figuring it all out," I said.

"Anything I can do to help?" Aelita asked.

"No," I said gruffly. Almost harshly. I attempted to catch up to Chris until I saw that brief flash of hurt cross her face. Great. Now I felt like a jackass.

"It's nothing anyone can really help me with," I said, my tone gentler. "It's something I have to figure out on my own."

"Well, you don't have to be a dick about it," Aelita said, making me laugh lightly. Never before would I imagine words like that coming out of Aelita's mouth.

"I do realize now that I am acting like a dick. I'm sorry for that. Given everything that's happened today, it's giving me a headache," I told her.

"Under normal circumstances, I'd crack down and force you to tell me..."

"In this case, even you would be unsuccessful," I told her.

"I had a strange feeling that this would be like that. But you can come to me for advice any time," Aelita said.

"You two coming?" Chris suddenly said, sticking his head out of the door.

"Yeah. Just talking," I said, my hand finding its way to Aelita's back and moving her ahead of me.

 _"Goddammit, don't do that,"_ I thought, removing my hand and stuffing both of them in my pockets. I almost felt guilty for the jolt than ran through my hand. Almost.

We were lead behind the curtain and Chris simply told us to wait until given a sign that we had to walk from behind the curtain onto the stage. I guess he would announce that we won and then we would come out.

I kept my eyes on the ground so that I wouldn't end up making eye contact with the girl in front of me. At least while _these_ thoughts were running rampant.

 _"You sound like crushing on a cute girl isn't normal at all,"_ my mind retorted.

Loud cheers abruptly jerked me out of my thoughts, my head snapping up abruptly. Then I rolled my eyes with annoyance that everyone was going crazy over him. I know he was a member of a famous band, but still. You didn't see me tripping over my feet at his mere presence. Then again, the Subdigitals weren't Disturbed, Metallica, or Five Finger Death Punch. Maybe that would make me go crazy. Who knows.

"I'm sure you're all excited to find out who the winner is of this little competition," Chris said, making the crowd get louder. "Well, I am not a man to beat around the bush. The _winners,_ I must express the plural of that statement, but the winners of this competition are... Robert Morgan and Aelita Stones!"

Swiftly getting to my feet and plastering a somewhat forced smile as we stepped behind the curtain. Then I felt my hand being grabbed. I looked at Aelita, who was smiling at me.

"Hey, we both earned this," she said as she raised our hands in the air as a sign of victory. The force demeanor of my smile disappeared and I took in the loud applause, liking the fact that it was for the both of us something we did. Let's just hope the Subdigitals' opening night went as good as today did.

* * *

A/N: If you want any indicator as to how the song was sung, refer to the Nightcore version of Courtesy Call rather than the original one by Thousand Foot Krutch.

Now my character is starting to develop some romantic feelings for Aelita. But given the fact that he knows exactly Jeremy feels about her, it leads to issues. Awkwardness is definitely afoot. On a separate note, this chapter ran over long as hell.


	40. Chapter 40 - The Skid

A/N: Episode references "Skidblanir."

* * *

"Watch it Odd," I said, grabbing the ball before it flew past Jeremy's screen.

"Shh! You don't want to wake up our Sleeping Beauties," Odd said, gesturing to Yumi and Ulrich, who were sleeping against each other. A soft smile crossed my face before I turned back around while throwing the ball in the air and catching it before tossing back to Odd. I noticed William was looking at the scene with slightly narrowed eyes. It might have done him a service to tell him that Yumi was solely focused on Ulrich and not him, but I told Yumi I wouldn't mention what I said to anyone.

"The coordinates have been recognized by the Supercomputer," Aelita said.

"That's great teamwork, huh Aelita? I couldn't have done it without your help," Jeremy said with a thumbs up.

"Odd," I said, trying to distract myself from what was going on next to me. I held my hand out when he turned and he tossed the ball in my direction, and I caught it with little effort.

 _"And I'm sure he qualifies and even like this as an event sufficient enough to be qualified as a date,"_ I thought as I tossed the ball back. _"This thought process is not doing anyone any favors. Get it together."_

"Ok, I'm ready," Jeremy said as I nearly fumbled the ball when Odd tossed it back. I had to stop losing focus on what was going on around me. So I decided to approach the computer once Aelita gave the word.

"Hey, what's that room? It's new to me," Yumi said.

"It's new to everyone. Aelita just programmed it into the core zone. We'll use it as a sort of hangar for our digital sub," Jeremy said.

"We got to christen it; give it a name," Odd said.

"Skidblanir," I said suddenly, making everyone look to me.

"Skid what?" William asked.

"Skidblanir. Its name," I told him. "The name itself refers to a boat that could sail on land and reach its destination no matter what."

"I like it," Aelita said.

"You should. You're the one who gave it the name," I told her.

"Well, that just means I have good taste," Aelita said, making me grin while shaking my head.

"How about we call it Skid for short?" Odd said.

"As long as we got a name. Plus Skidblanir isn't exactly a term everyone is associated with, so it makes an excellent code name," Jeremy said.

"The name in the general, really. But anyway, Skidblanir, or 'Skid' it is. Now can we head back the dorms? I'm ready to turn in," I told them.

"I fully agree. I'm amazed I didn't fall asleep like those two," William said, pointing to Ulrich and Yumi. I could see he was pointedly keeping his eyes away from them. Yumi's eyes narrowed slightly while Ulrich simply raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, we can turn in," Jeremy said, getting up from the computer and following us to the elevator. "The rest of the calculations should keep running by themselves until tomorrow afternoon. By then, the atomic layers of the vernal external structure will be complete. At four pm sharp, Aelita will be launching phase two of the programming operation: The construction of the core."

"And if we don't, all of that work is going to be for nothing," I summed up in simpler terms before Jeremy could talk again. I could tell by the blank on everyone's faces who wasn't Aelita that they couldn't follow along.

"So the ship will be completely wiped out?" William asked.

"Yup. So we gotta be there at four," Aelita said before turning to me. "Speaking of time, we're due for a practice run mister."

"Tomorrow? Considering how things get, you don't wanna wait until the day after?" I asked her.

"No time like the present. Besides, I doubt we'll be sitting there practicing for more than two hours," Aelita told me, making me shrug.

"Alright. You've got my time," I told her, making her smile widely.

"Trust me. By the end of this, everyone's going to know how talented we are," Aelita said.

"So we never heard that song that you two are going to be pulling off. Chris never said anything about it," Yumi said.

"It's called Courtesy Call. Maybe you can come around when we're practicing it. Get a little sneak peek of the show," I said with a small smile.

"Nah, I'd rather hear it come opening night. I'll be a lot more blown away by it," Yumi said.

"Yes, well anyway, I hope you two don't forget about what's going on with the ship. That's one thing we absolutely cannot afford to miss," Jeremy reminded us.

"We'll make sure to be punctual. We won't forget," I assured him with a nod.

"But you do realize that if the papers are anything like they are with regular celebrities after a performance, they'll assume you two are dating," Odd said.

To this statement, I turned my head slightly. I couldn't necessarily admit that I wanted that to happen, but the fact that it was laid out made my cheeks burn. Then I cleared my throat.

"Well, they'll end up learning the facts one way or another," I said simply.

"And does that involve screaming it in their faces if saying it calmly doesn't work?" Aelita asked.

"No. Going to stuff a loudspeaker in one of their ears and call it a public service announcement," I said evenly.

"You'll give some poor sap's ears the wrong kind of service," Odd said, making everyone laugh. My eyes ended up going to Aelita, and I had to wrench them away. This is exactly what sucked about crushes. I still had absolutely no clue how to go about them. Especially in this situation. All I knew was that I enjoyed seeing her smile, which she was doing right now.

 _"Do my thoughts have to make me sound like some lovestruck fool?"_ I thought as I forced my eyes forward.

"...some work we need to finish up before we head to bed," Aelita said once I was jerked out of my thoughts. Then I sighed as I closed my eyes. Things can never be simple, can they?

* * *

"Whoa, calm down there. That one actually hurt pretty bad," Ulrich said, rubbing his chest where I pushed it hard.

"Sorry about that," I said as I offered him a hand to get to his feet. "A lot of my mind."

"What about?" Ulrich asked. It wasn't even breakfast time yet before I was up and awake. Strangely enough, Ulrich had the same problem I did. So we decided to put this time into some more sparring.

"Stuff about the future. Things get a bit more complicated with us having to follow XANA into the internet," I told him.

"Yeah," Ulrich said before sighing with his hands at his side. "Listen, there's something I got to talk to you about. Concerning last night."

"You were sleeping," I said simply.

"Yeah. With Yumi's head on my shoulder," Ulrich said before biting his lip. "I can't explain it, but I felt a lot warmer than when I normally sleep. And we were sitting up on those metals floors. Not exactly the warmest floor material in the world. Then I wake up, look at her, and she jerks her head back guiltily. And then I had the urge to kiss her."

"I don't see why you couldn't have," I said simply, making Ulrich's eyes widen.

"You mean, you're not even a little disappointed at the fact that I can't seem to get over Yumi?" he asked.

"Let's face it. Who we like is out of our control. I mean, you can be discouraged a lot by different things that happen. Things that people tell you. Or just things that are already known. But you're still going to want who you want. And you have no say in the matter. Well, technically you do, but you won't be able to change that on a whim," I explained to him.

"Have you ever crushed on someone you felt didn't want you?" Ulrich asked. I had to blink back an image of pink hair and soft arms hooking around my body. I swallowed slightly.

"Yes. Several times," I said, my voice managing to come out even. "I had no clue how to go about it. I was helpless as to what to do."

"That's not exactly reassuring," Ulrich said, making me shrug.

"What can I say? I can't tell you advice that I don't know," I said.

"Damn, I wish I knew what to do," Ulrich said, leaning against the wall with his eyes closed. I looked away slightly, stuffing my hands in my pockets.

"You and me both buddy," I whispered softly. Then Ulrich stood with his hands still in his pockets.

"Let's just get ready," Ulrich said evenly.

"Yeah," I said. I didn't have an answer for Ulrich as to why my voice came out so hollow. Thankfully, he didn't ask.

* * *

"Attend the detention," I told them.

"Are you kidding me? We have to finish the work on the submarine," Jeremy told me.

"In case you forgot, there's one other person who's been following your work to the detail along with you all," I told them. "He also happens to not have detention."

"What if XANA attacks?" Jeremy asked.

"We'll handle it. If there's any indication that he's coming after you, I'll activate a tower and send some power your way. You can take Aelita and get here fairly fast," I told him.

"I don't like this," Jeremy said.

"What's not to like? You don't have to finish the work and you can spend more time with Aelita. It's win win for you," I told him. But it lacked the teasing tone that would've surely been there weeks ago. Instead, it sounded more distant; like I was simply stating an answer to a teacher.

"I mean if there's now way around it..."

"I'm afraid if unless you break a bone, there's no way..." I stopped briefly. "Actually, there is a way."

"What?" Jeremy asked.

"We keep forgetting that we have the ability to activate towers whenever we need to without worrying about XANA taking them over," I told them, making them shake their heads.

"I can't believe we keep forgetting such an important detail," Aelita said.

"What is important, Ms. Stones? What do you find more interesting than Shakespeare?" the teacher asked.

"No offense to you Miss, but the both of us do find a performance that we have to perform in front of a substantial number of people to be more important than a history lesson. Apologies for getting in your way, but it's something that we have to take seriously as neither of us want to blow it," I said smoothly before smiling. "But I must appreciate the fact that you at least attempt to make the subject somewhat interesting to the rest of us."

"Oh. Yes. I forgot about that," the teacher said, blinking in slight surprise. "Yes, I can understand how it can be such an honor to do something of that nature, not to mention distracting. But I must ask you two to try and conduct yourselves more seriously while in class. You have plenty of time to discuss it afterwards."

"It is a thing that constantly gnaws at you, but we'll try to oblige you ma'am," I said with a polite bow of my head. I saw her smile gently before turning to the board and continuing her discussion.

"You're too good at that," Ulrich said, making me smile.

"I know," I said simply before turning back around to face the front.

I walked out while stretching as soon as we left the classroom, knowing that lunch was next.

"I think we oughta get those clones made now. You two oughta go together," I said, pointing at Aelita and Jeremy. "It'll be rather hard to explain the both of you being in two places at once. It could raise some eyebrows."

 _"I don't know whether to be happy or mad about the fact that they spend plenty of time alone and they don't do anything,"_ I thought. _"Then again, I could say the same thing about me."_

"Agreed. Sadly, we'll have to put that practice session on hold," Aelita said, looking at me.

"It's fine. Like I said, we'll have plenty of chances to practice with each other," I told her.

 _"Stop trying to turn everything into an innuendo,"_ I thought, feeling furious with myself for saying that. Luckily that was one subject Aelita wasn't quite well knowledgeable about. As for Odd...

"I'm sure they would've been very interesting practice sessions," he said, his eyes glittering with deviousness. I glared at him with my eyes narrowed. Luckily Jeremy and Aelita had already moved on towards the factory and they didn't catch that.

"Drop it, will you?" I said, trying to keep the snap out of my voice. But I did sound impatient. More annoyed than anything. Jesus, emotions were difficult to control.

"Hey, you set yourself up for that," Odd said with a grin.

"Yes, but you didn't have to follow up on it. Then again, you're you, so I guess that's why," I said, making him smirk.

"Yeah, and..." Odd got a tap on his shoulder, and I saw that it was Emily. I had to restrain myself from widening my eyes. Could she suddenly read my thoughts?

"Can I talk to you really fast?" she asked, pointing at me.

"Uh, yeah. Sure," I said, moving past Odd and putting my hands in my pockets. Once we were a sufficient distance away, I immediately spoke. "What is it?"

"Congratulations are in order. You and Aelita with that competition and all," Emily said.

"Why thank you. We did a good job, and we're glad that Chris saw that," I said with a satisfied nod. Then I tilted my head. "I can assume you didn't pull me over here just to tell me that."

"You never were subtle unless you wanted to be. No, I wanted to tell you that I started dating again. And I'd rather you know from me," Emily said.

"Oh. Well, alright. Hope that goes well for you," I said evenly with a nod.

"You're not upset?" Emily asked.

"For what reason do I have to be upset?" I asked.

"I mean, under normal circumstances, most guys are upset..." She cut herself off before smiling. "What am I thinking? You aren't most guys."

"Glad you seem to realize this," I said, grinning just as wide. "But here's the thing. Let me know if something happens that shouldn't. I will break a few fingers. Just because we're not dating does not have to mean that I do not care."

"You really are something else. Aelita's very..." Emily snapped her mouth shut, and I froze briefly.

"Let's not do this again, alright?" I told her calmly.

"Right. Of course," Emily said, looking down slightly.

"In any case, have a good date," I said evenly.

Now I was glad even more than ever that I had completely gotten over Emily. It wouldn't have made me crushing on Aelita justifiable ff I'm still brooding on my ex. There was no use entering another relationship with someone else if there were still some lingering feelings involving your last relationship.

"What'd she want with you?" Yumi asked.

"She just told me that she wanted to tell me that she was dating before I found out through some other source," I said.

"And you're not upset?" Odd asked.

"Nope. I got over her a good while ago. It doesn't bother me at all," I said calmly. And it was true. I had no issue with her dating.

"Glad that issue seems to have been solved," Yumi said.

"Speaking of issues..." Ulrich said, pointing over to where Jim was heading towards us.

"Oh, boy. I'm not exactly sure what he wants, but it's not going to be convenient for us," I said.

"What isn't?" Jeremy asked, coming up to us. Or rather, what I could assume was a clone of Jeremy with a clone of Aelita next to him.

"Belpois! Stones! We're going to have lunch together. That way I can get you to the library right on time," Jim said. The clones looked at each other before willingly following Jim.

* * *

"Did the ravioli sit right with you?" Aelita asked with a smirk.

"My cast iron stomach is the only reason it's sitting it all. That's one thing they do not get right," I said as the elevator closed behind me.

"Better than nothing, cause that's what we have to go off of," Jeremy said, typing on the computer.

"It's not much but it's something. It's all I had on short notice," I said, laying the sack in Jeremy's lap. He looked down at it before pulling out a bag of chips.

"Something is better than nothing. Thanks," Jeremy said, taking out a bag before handing the sack to Aelita.

"Stop by the store?" Aelita asked, finding a seat on the ground before opening a bag of chips.

"Uh huh. The others said they would arrive shortly," I said as the computer started beeping.

"Ah crap," Jeremy said, quickly wiping his hand on his pants leg before immediately focusing his attention on the computer.

"I'll head for the scanners," I said, already knowing what was going on. Aelita sighed and popped several chips in her mouth before following me.

"We saw this coming," she said as I was climbing down the ladder.

"Oh, yes. As usual, XANA will try to be a pain in our asses if we dare to make plans. But we'll beat him like usual," I said as I hopped down.

"Where's the docking area?" Aelita asked as soon as we were scanned onto Lyoko.

 _"When the elevator stops, continue until you reach the access hall. Then make a right,"_ Jeremy told us.

The doors in front of us unraveled before we ran forward and ended up in a big area. Thankfully, we didn't have to deal with any switch or countdown.

"Weren't you in charge of rebuilding Sector Five?" I asked.

"Uh huh," Aelita said.

"Impressive. Most impressive," I said. I had a tendency to keep quoting Star Wars. Did I regret said tendency? Absolutely not.

"Thanks," Aelita said as we walked to the end of the platform, stepping on the elevator once it came down. I was greeted with the sight of a dozen Creepers blasting away at the Skid while three mantas were circling the air doing the same.

"Take to the skies. I'll deal with the Creepers in the meantime," I said before summoning both of my lightsabers to my hand and making a gigantic leap off the elevator. I landed on top of a Creeper and stabbed him in the head before tossing both of my sabers to the side. The distance killed four Creepers on each side of me, causing me to grin when I saw the amount left. Nine monsters down in one motion.

"Nice work," Aelita complimented as she summoned an energy orb to her hand and hit a manta dead center.

Running with my blades at my side like a ninja, I deflected the lasers headed my way once the Creepers turned around to try and shoot me. I sliced the first monster in half before moving past him and the next Creeper off the edge. I then jumped to the last Creeper and swiftly impaled it.

"This is a lot easier without William to make it harder," I said as I jumped onto one of the four magnetic locks holding the ship in place.

"I'm sure it is," Aelita said, blasting the last manta before floating next to me with her pink wings flapping away.

 _"Nice work you guys,"_ Jeremy said, the both of us looking at each other with a grin at his words. _"Alright, we still have about a half hour until four. Just keep the ship covered from anything that might try and attack in the meantime."_

"Will do," I assured him before deactivating one lightsaber and keeping the other one at my side while standing in front of the elevator.

"All ready to go, aren't you?" Aelita asked, taking a seat next to me.

"But of course. If he comes, we have to be ready," I told him.

"We'll be ready," Aelita said as I kept my eyes on the elevator. "So, um... wow, I just realized that I have nothing to talk about."

"It's fine. I'm comfortable with the silence," I said, twirling my saber in front of me before deactivating it, throwing it up in the air, and catching it.

After a number of Creepers and Mantas had shown up to attack the core, Ulrich and the others showed up. In the meantime, I hadn't taken a hit and Aelita got hit with one stray laser, but other than that, we were pretty much in good health.

"We miss anything?" Ulrich asked as they walked up to us.

"Nothing much. Monsters show up, monsters see us, monsters get destroyed. You know, the usual," Aelita said with an offhanded voice. Ulrich then looked at me.

"It's scary the way you've changed her," he said, making me grin widely. I looked at Aelita, and she was grinning just as wide as me. "You do realize she used take these monsters seriously, right?"

"Oh, I still take them seriously. Otherwise I wouldn't destroy them Ulrich," Aelita said in a tone as if it were obvious, making all of us start bursting out laughing.

"I've said this like twenty million times in the exact same tone of voice, but I'm so proud," I said. My grin almost felt Joker-like from how wide it was.

"I know you are. You have corrupted the princess," Aelita said with a regal bow of her head and a hand out at her side like she was bowing.

"Corrupted or not, I live to serve thy princess. Serve and protect," I said, bowing my head to where I was facing the ground with my hand around my stomach and hand at my side.

"Let me see one of those," Aelita said. I moved my eyes upward and I could barely see Aelita grab a sword from Ulrich. So much for being prepared for more monsters arriving.

"I dub you Sir Robert of the Royal Order. Rise," she said before I slowly rose to my feet.

"And I know _I've_ said this like twenty million times, but you two enjoy this princess/knight role way too much," Yumi said.

"I don't see anything wrong with that," Aelita said as Ulrich took his sword back.

"Neither do I. It's fun. Plus it gives me an excuse to be extra for no reason," I told him.

"Since when do you need an excuse?" Aelita questioned.

 _"It's done. The programming for phase two is underway,"_ Jeremy suddenly said before I could respond.

"Well... awesome. Since the Skid's done, we're free to start traveling. We need to take a day; make sure we have nothing holding us back," I said.

"Whenever we have the time," Yumi said.

"Agreed. We'll all collaborate on it," Jeremy said.


	41. Chapter 41 - Deep Sea Diving

Episode References: Crash Course

* * *

"For those who are not familiar with the sport, rock climbing is a noble discipline. Which can carry to to great heights," Jim said, making me roll my eyes. I'm not even sure if that pun was intentional.

 _"Rock climbing. Simple test of grip and not falling off when you look down. If you look down, that is,"_ I thought.

"Belpois," Jim suddenly said, making me look up. "Get up there. See if you're up to the challenge. This will be the practical part of today's lesson."

 _"And as usual, Jim never fails to take the piss out of Jeremy whenever he shows up,"_ I thought, not missing the miserable look that crossed Jeremy's face.

I watched the entire time as Jeremy climbed, tuning out Jim's voice to focus on Jeremy. I knew he didn't have too much upper body strength, so this would be difficult for him. Still nothing says character than overcoming the face of adversity.

His hand hovered over one of the rocks before he suddenly lost all his grip and fell off. I closed my eyes upon the impact as several students groaned. That wouldn't hurt, but it would leave a mark on his pride.

"Of course if the only exercise you get is clicking your computer mouse, you aren't gonna conquer any peaks," Jim said, his tone one of disapproval.

 _"And him clicking away at that computer helps save all of your lives,"_ I thought furiously. I wanted nothing more than to refute that statement, but I'd just end up in trouble, and I didn't want that. But apparently, some of my displeasure showed.

"Morgan. You give it a shot. Show Belpois how it's done," Jim said, pointing at the wall as Jeremy began to walk back towards the students. I sighed before going up to the wall, giving him a sympathetic look on my way over.

I put my hands on the rock, jumping up to skip several rocks at a time. I then jumped all the way from the top, my legs only faltering a little on the soft surface under my feet. I then looked at Jim.

"There. Let's move on with our lives," I said before standing back in the group like nothing happened. There were some impressed murmurs, and one of the redheaded girls in our group gave me a surprisingly bright smile. I couldn't resist grinning back. Not cockily, but almost nervously; somewhat unsure. I had no idea whether or not should I even respond to other girls. Guys would think of it as keeping my options open, but it just didn't feel right to me.

"Ah, you see Belpois? That's how it's done," Jim said.

"Jim, drop it please," I said calmly as I looked over at Jeremy. He pointedly avoided my gaze and I sighed. Maybe I should've taken the climb a little bit slower. Cause in all honesty, I just wanted to get it over with. I may have just indirectly made Jeremy feel worse about himself in the process though.

* * *

"Believe me, it's not a big deal Jeremy," I told him as I took a bite of food.

"Easy for you to say. You can climb up like it's no big deal," Jeremy said sourly.

"Given how I have to take on XANA in the real world more often than not, I have to be in shape. Climbing just comes naturally cause of that," I told him simply.

"Did you really have to climb so fast though? No student made it up the wall as fast as you did that time," Odd said.

"Because I just wanted to get it over with. The faster, the better to me," I said.

"You didn't seem to mind the attention when Stephanie was grinning at you," Aelita noted. I frowned slightly at her as she didn't sound like she was teasing. She sounded very serious, which was weird.

"Well... she has a nice smile," I said lamely.

 _"Oh, that was very eloquent. Well done. Even Odd would've put his foot in his mouth there,"_ I thought, resisting the urge to smack myself on the forehead. Multiple times. I really needed to learn how to shut my mouth sometimes.

"Oh, a nice smile, eh?" Odd said with a wide grin. "So you gonna ask her out?"

"Let's just say I'm keeping my options open," I said neutrally.

"You certainly can't go wrong with a redhead," Odd said.

 _"Yeah, but why is it I seem to prefer pink?"_ I thought, my gaze looking up slightly as Aelita was focused on her food before I spoke aloud. "I can't argue with that."

"Can you two stop thinking about girls for two seconds?" Yumi asked, sounding slightly annoyed.

"Hey, it's not often I get him to talk about other girls. Let me have this," Odd said, his eyes almost pleading with her. I laughed lightly.

"I'm done now. I don't talk about the subject incessantly like Odd likes to," I told her, taking a bite of food.

"Well, sourpuss. Having a hard time lifting your brain with those string bean arms?" Sissi said, suddenly appearing at the table.

"Odd, don't speak," I said evenly before facing Sissi, my expression turning unpleasant on demand.

"Firstly I doubt you could've made it to the top. Secondly, his brain happens to be filled with knowledge. Something you sorely lack. Even people with autism learn better than you do," I said before my hands slammed on the table and made her jump. "Now, I'm going to ask you to walk away now. Your unpleasant face and attitude ruins everyone's appetite. Grow up. Give the dumb shit a break."

She stared at me for a few seconds, making my eyes harden. She began to walk off before I turned my hard glare to Herb and Nicholas, and they followed her. My unpleasant expression never left my face as I stabbed my food. Or more like impaled it.

"Well... that just reminded us that you're just as vicious as you are funny sometimes..." Ulrich said.

"Sorry, that line was long," William said, walking over to our table. "What's the latest?"

"You missed Robert ripping into Sissi," Odd said. I ignored him and continued to eat my food.

"Really? Shame I missed that," William said, taking a seat next to Ulrich.

"Don't be. It wasn't funny," Ulrich said.

"Really?" William asked.

"I was unpleasant to an unpleasant person," I said simply.

"Please. Friggin' serial killers are more pleasant to people than you were to her," Ulrich said.

"That's a bit of an exaggeration, but I _was_ pissed," I said, stabbing another piece of food with unnecessary force.

"How'd you end up being more upset than me at the end of this?" Jeremy asked.

"I don't like it when people talk about my friends," I said easily.

"Thanks," Jeremy said with a small smile. My cold demeanor broke and I smiled back.

 _"Aw, how sweet. It's almost like you two aren't competing for the same girl,"_ I thought, making me kick myself. Literally kick myself. I severely annoy myself with the thoughts that popped up without my consent. But no one seemed to notice since my legs were under the table.

"Anyway, the Skid's almost done. There are just a few things that have to be ironed out before we even try to go for a trip," Jeremy told us.

"Then we need to put the finishing touches on it when we get the chance. The sooner we get a proper trip in the digital sea done, the better," I said, taking another bite of food.

"You have any idea what's in there?" Odd asked.

"Unfortunately, no. The digital sea was one area where I didn't pay too much attention," I said.

"Crap. That information would've been nice to know," Aelita said.

"That only means we have to be careful when we take the trip. No risks can be taken," Jeremy said, making me nod in agreement.

"I said quiet down!" Mr. Delmas exclaimed. It had no effect because everyone was still chattering away. "Quiet, I said!" I held my index finger in the air briefly before immediately pointing to Jim.

"Mr. Delmas said quiet down! That means now!" Jim exclaimed. After looking at the faces of all the students, I had to suppress a laugh.

"What? What is it?" Ulrich asked.

"Everyone looks like they got shot with a bullet after that," I said, my laugh slipping through my fingers as I kept looking at all of the students.

"They actually do," Yumi said with a grin. I didn't miss the fact that Odd had to wipe a similar expression off his face. I bit my tongue to stifle my laughter.

"In case you've forgotten, let me remind you that today is FSRP day. Which stands for Fire, Safety, Risk and Prevention. And so all afternoon cancels have been canceled," Delmas said. I didn't even have time to make a hand gesture before the entire cafeteria erupted in cheers, including everyone at my table. I was glad classes were canceled, but I wasn't going to make a big deal out of it. But this would suit our purpose of testing the Skid just fine.

"As I was saying. Your classes have been canceled, but part of this free time will be devoted to a complete building evacuation exercise. This drill is designed to..." I tuned Delmas out and focused on Jeremy.

"What all has to be checked on the Skid before we launch?" I asked him.

"I have do checks on the parameters of the engine, the procedures for transferring virtual mass..."

"You do realize that if he starts, he'll never stop?" Odd asked.

"This is important, Odd. And of course he'll stop. Either he'll run out of checks or he'll run out of oxygen. It's a question as to which might come first," I said with a lighthearted grin in his direction.

* * *

"Let's run over the last few checks," I said, taking a seat with the laptop in front of me. "I especially want to make sure the navigational systems are up to stuff. I got a feeling about those."

"Right. Let's make sure everything's up to snuff," Jeremy said, sitting at the computer.

"Are you two that worried over the fact that something could go wrong?" Odd asked.

"When it comes to XANA, something always goes wrong Odd," Jeremy said.

"He's right, you know. And if something does go wrong with anything, we could end up being stuck in the digital sea," I supplied.

"In that case, I certainly don't blame you for being careful," William said, making me give him a nod of respect.

"Speaking of careful, there's something I've been meaning to bring up," Ulrich said.

"Go ahead," I said as I continued to type.

"William's got my vote for being allowed on Lyoko," Ulrich said, making me pause and look up at both of them. Ulrich looked resolute; William surprised.

"Well, I suppose now's a perfect time to tally the votes. If you're all for allowing William on Lyoko, raise your hands," I said, raising mine almost immediately. Ulrich's hand came after mine. Odd gave William a brief look before raising his as well. Then Aelita looked between William, Jeremy, and then me. Then her hand raised.

"All for not?" I asked. Yumi and Jeremy's hands went up, and I then looked to William. "Well, you're minus two votes as of right now, but you're learning to become more responsible. But since you've gained the trust of more people since the last time, I will ask these two if they'll at least let you go on the voyage with us."

"Are you crazy?" Yumi asked.

"Yes, but that's completely unrelated to this. The purpose of this trip is to explore the digital sea. Not to deactivate a tower or fight monsters on Lyoko. The sole purpose of this trip is to explore the digital sea. And he won't even be driving it. And as of now, there are only two people qualified to pilot the Skid. Aelita and myself. It's fine if you don't trust him completely. But this is a sign if you trust him at all. He _is_ part of the group, whether you like it or not. It's time to start acting like it," I explained.

"Were you planning on asking this?" Jeremy asked.

"I was planning to, yes. Maybe not exactly on the first trip, but I figured why not today after what Ulrich said. And remember, we planned for the size of the Skid in case William was ever going to be thrown in the works. Hence there being five Nav-Skids," I told him.

"Very well," Jeremy said before looking to William, who had his hands behind his back while looking restless and worried. "You have my vote to go on the Skid trip. But there will be no promises for the next one."

"That's fine," William said before looking to Yumi. "You've got the last vote. It's up to you."

Yumi looked at William, her gaze slightly narrowed but also... searching? Like she was trying to find something that was hidden from view.

"He can come," she finally said. William let out a sigh of relief that sounded like he was holding his breath for the past few seconds.

"Thank you," William said, slightly moving forward but immediately moving back. I guess he had to restrain the urge to hug Yumi. Knowing her, that probably would've retracted her vote. Or at least have her threaten to retract it.

"Now let's finish up the last of these diagnostic checks before heading back," I said, checking the laptop.

"Why not go now? The both of us will be there to make sure things go according to plan," Aelita said.

"I'm not necessarily reassured by our knowledge of how the Skid works, and you shouldn't either. None of you should. If something is wrong with the Skid; a diagnostic error or something of the sort, there will be nothing either of us can do. Just give it a while longer. We'll be set out for the voyage in no time," I assured her. She nodded and I went back to the laptop.

Turns out that 'no time' turned into nearly a half hour. There was a surprising amount to check, but more importantly, correct. My feelings about the navigational system were right. It was buggy, and needed a small rewrite of the code. I didn't bother to say an 'I told you so.' This was more about safety than anything else, so there was no need to.

"Are we finished?" Odd asked, his tone bored.

"Yes. We double checked everything, and other than the navigational systems, everything was perfectly functional," I said, closing the laptop.

"You two do this stuff everyday?" William asked.

"Longer, usually. But _he_ does it everyday. My brain turns to cheese if I do it more than a couple of hours," I said before turning to Jeremy. "I admire your brain for its resistance to the cheesing process."

"It's a natural resistance," Jeremy said with a grin before we all went down to the scanners. Two quick rounds of transferring, and we were all in the Sector Five elevator.

"Huh. Last time I was here, things didn't go well," William said, looking around the place.

"And we'd like it to stay that way, so please pay attention," Yumi said calmly.

"You guys are putting your trust in me after _I_ screwed up. I'll listen if you tell me to jump off an edge," William said.

"Don't even think about it Ulrich," Odd said with a wide grin.

 _"I_ should be telling _you_ that," Ulrich said with a similar grin. Everyone laughed and the atmosphere was instantly less tense.

We walked towards the elevator that lead to the Skid as soon as everyone was transferred to Lyoko. It was still a little strange to see Lyoko broken up like it was. At least XANA didn't seemed to be aware as to what we were doing.

"What now?" William asked, causing me to point upwards.

"Elevator," I said right as the object in question was coming down. He nodded as we all walked onto it. We rode all the way to the top while keeping our eyes open for any of XANA's monsters.

"And... there she is," I said, gesturing towards the ship.

"Whoa," William said, staring at the Skid with an awestruck look on his face.

"It's beautiful, huh?" Yumi said.

"Fantastic," Ulrich confirmed.

"Einstein, we made it to the Skid. Now what do we do?" Odd asked as we stepped off the elevator.

 _"Each of you get on a transporter spot,"_ Jeremy told us as we ran onto the item in question. Five separate outer platforms with one in the middle.

"Remember, I'm driving next time," I said with a point in her direction. She grinned at me as Jeremy put us all in the Skid. The area I was in had just enough elbow room so it wouldn't be uncomfortable. Then again, I couldn't really stretch in here.

 _"This is awesome!"_ William said.

 _"You said it. It's like being in a spaceship!"_ Odd exclaimed.

 _"Yeah, but be careful Odd. This isn't Galactic Invaders,"_ Ulrich said.

 _"Yeah, you're just jealous cause I wiped out three times as many invaders as you did last night,"_ Odd said.

 _"Because you cheated, as usual,"_ Ulrich said.

"Ladies, please. Calm down. And you seem to forget that I wiped out twice as many as you did Odd, so I don't know why you're bragging," I said.

 _"Really? We'll have to play sometime,"_ William said. _"I can slay some Invaders myself."_

"Count on it," I assured him.

 _"I still don't know how anyone can even be that good,"_ Odd said, his tone one of disbelief.

"Please. Before I ended up here, video games were my life. Whether old or new, I will always be your sensei," I said with a grin. "These fingers are good for more things than handling a sword or touching a girl in all the right places."

"Ok, _moving on,"_ Jeremy quickly interrupted. I let out an amused laugh, and I didn't need to see anyone to know that almost everyone was rolling their eyes or had a minor look of disgust. Well, I hoped Aelita knew I was joking.

 _"Dude, you're crushing on her. You're not dead. Perverted jokes are kinda in your bio,"_ I thought. My lingo gets thrown out of whack when I feel like I have to think about what I say.

 _"We're ready to go. Releasing support,"_ Jeremy said. The supports holding the Skid in the docking area were released before Aelita began to power the engines. And then... we were moving.

 _"All indicators are go. You guys are good for leaving Sector Five,"_ Jeremy said.

"Take us out Princess," I said.

 _"Very well noble knight. Even though you should be driving for me,"_ Aelita said, the smirk laced in her voice.

 _"Shall we leave you two alone?"_ Ulrich asked. I can could see the smirk on his face, which made me roll my eyes even though he couldn't see it.

 _"We'll make it an IOU. For now, we have a sea to explore,"_ Aelita said, driving the Skid out of Sector Five. _"It's definitely working."_

 _"Nice work you three,"_ Yumi said.

"Now for the real test. Time to dive," I said.

 _"Let's do it. Shields, activated. Sonar, activated. Stabilizers online and checked out. Laser generators online,"_ Aelita ticked off. _"Cockpit to Nav-Skids. Ready to dive?_ "

"Ready," I confirmed.

 _"Ready,"_ Yumi said.

 _"Ready,"_ Ulrich said.

 _"Let's do this,"_ William said.

 _"Anytime Princess,"_ Odd said.

 _"Then let's go,"_ Aelita said before the ship suddenly shot into the digital sea with the speed of a bullet.

There was a few seconds of silence and a point where we could see nothing but black. But soon, light began to filter into my vision as well as Jeremy's voice.

 _"...Aelita, come in please,"_ Jeremy said.

 _"Skid to base lab. Jeremy, we're in the digital sea,"_ Aelita told him.

 _"That's what I was wanting to hear Aelita. I nearly had a heart attack waiting, but I'm ok now,"_ Jeremy said.

"Now we just need to see what's behind door number one..." I trailed. The hatch in front of us opened shortly after I said that, and now we were really in the digital sea. It was strange how the area around us literally made it seem like we were in water. Guess it wasn't referenced as the digital sea for nothing. But the look of the place...

"Whoa," I said, my eyes going over the area. It was like Atlantis, but with its own little Lyoko vibe. Elegant, aesthetically pleasing in its own little way. My mind was whirring as to what all of these structures meant? Were the lines of code or what? Who knew. But it was very hard to look away, that's for sure.

 _"Holo-web system online. Well, what does the network look like?"_ Jeremy asked.

 _"It's... it's beautiful. I'm sending you a visual,"_ Aelita said.

 _"This is really cool looking,"_ William said.

 _"I definitely can't argue with that. This place is awesome,"_ Ulrich said.

 _"You said it,"_ Odd added.

 _"Wonder what's out there,"_ Yumi said.

"That's what we're here to find out. Aelita?" I asked.

 _"Like you even needed to ask. Rotation,"_ Aelita said.

 _"Aelita, engage the turbo prop and the auxiliary engines to break free of Lyoko's gravity field, ok?"_ Jeremy said.

 _"Right. Turbo propeller engaged,"_ Aelita said before I felt my head slightly jerk back from the force of the turbo. After that, we just had a moment to sit back and look at everything. It really was an elegant place, yet kept that familiar feel of Lyoko. Everyone was quiet the entire time; likely everyone taking in the sights just like I was. This really was an amazing place. Then again, we did have to be mindful of the fact that XANA was lurking around here.

 _"It looks like a city, only upside down and underwater,"_ William said.

"We are in the internet, so it's likely all data," I said.

 _"And data is constantly connected in the web. Hold on. Let me get the lights,"_ Aelita said before the area lit up a little more. But shortly after that, the blue lighting of the area completely shifted to red.

"Uh oh," I said.

 _"Uh oh. Why uh oh?"_ Jeremy asked.

"I have the strangest feeling that we've stumbled onto XANA's territory," I said.

 _"The lighting did just change from blue to red,"_ Yumi said.

 _"Alright, turn the Skid around. I don't like this,"_ Jeremy said.

"Wait a second. Give it a few more minutes Aelita. I feel like there was something here we needed to see," I said.

 _"What exactly are we looking for?"_ Aelita asked.

"I'm not sure. But we'll know it when we see it," I said.

 _"Alright. I'll keep it up for a little bit longer, but we pull out if we can't find any... thing..."_

 _"Is that Lyoko?"_ Ulrich asked.

"No, it can't be. I doubt you can go in a circle in the web. It's way too big for that. You can only return to previous destinations. You can't double back if you're only going forward," I said.

 _"Robert's right. It's not. It's some sort of copy,"_ Jeremy said.

 _"What for? There's already one Lyoko. What could XANA possibly hope to get from making a second one?"_ William asked.

"I don't know. But we'll definitely need to find out one day," I said.

 _"But that day's not today,"_ Jeremy said.

 _"Agreed. Let's pull out now. We we've seen what we needed to so far,"_ Aelita said, pulling away from the Lyoko copy before we got sucked into its gravitational pull. _"Heading back to Lyoko."_

* * *

"At least we were able to avoid any confrontations in there," Yumi said.

"But we were able to learn something while in there. XANA has some sort of Replika of Lyoko in there. I wonder what he's thinking of doing with it," Jeremy said.

"We'll figure that out another time, but it's certain that it's not going to be good," Ulrich said.

"Why do I have the strangest feeling we'll be ending up in there?" William said.

"Because we most likely are. Well, depending on if these two let you tag along," I said, pointing at Jeremy and Yumi.

"We'll see," Jeremy said impassively before standing up. "Let's just head back to the school."

"You do realize we're all dead for missing the assembly right?" Odd reminded us.

"Well, they'll likely just book us for detention for the rest of the day. That shouldn't be too much of a problem for William," I said with a grin, making everyone laugh.

"I resent that implication," William said, crossing his arms. But he had a grin on his face as well.

"Yeah, yeah. We'll care more about you being offended when you stay out detention longer than a couple weeks, mmkay?" I said, giving him two quick pats on the shoulder. He opened his mouth to respond, but seemed to think better of it, and didn't. At least things were progressing.

 _"Well..."_ I thought as I looked Aelita. _"...maybe not everything."_


	42. Chapter 42 - Auditions

Episode References: Crash Course

* * *

 _"Here comes the danger up in this club;_ _When we get started, we ain't gonna stop;_ _We gonna turn it up 'till it gets too hot,'"_ me and Aelita recited as we were walking.

"We still sound strong," I said easily.

"You seem a lot more confident now," Aelita said.

"Because the first initial tryout turned out smooth. I sounded good; you sounded good. That gives me a fair bit of reason to be confident," I said.

"I'm glad. You are very talented at this. You just need to build on it," Aelita said.

"And that is exactly what I shall do. But I'll have you alongside me. That makes the process ten times more worth it," I said with a warm smile.

"I mean..." Aelita said, her cheeks taking on a brighter hue. "All I did was give you a little push."

"There was nothing little about getting me to come along with you on this journey to impress the world with music. I may not be the most talented person in the world, but I do have talent. And you had faith in me about that. I am truly grateful," I said, stopping her my hands on her shoulders and looking her dead in the eyes. Those eyes... that shy smile...

The door opened and I removed my hands from her shoulders like I had been electrocuted or caught doing something that I shouldn't have been doing. Chris was outside, and he raised an eyebrow before smiling widely at the both of us. My cheeks felt like red hot irons now.

"I thought I heard voices out here. Going over a few more things before you went inside?" he asked.

"Uh, yeah. Just... talking," I said, my tone somewhat subdued.

"If you need to finish up..."

"No, it's fine," Aelita said almost immediately as she walked further inside. I mentally shook my head at the absurdity of this situation. This was turning more and more into a cheesy romance novel in my mind everyday.

"Let's introduce everyone. You two already know Nic and Benoit, my partners," Chris said, the two men acknowledging us with polite nods. "Sophie, who holds the strings."

"Hello, Aelita. Robert," she said politely. I waved at her and gave a polite smile.

"And the big baron in that cage is Simon, our sound engineer," Chris finished, Simon giving us a swift two handed salute like I always do. I couldn't resist returning the gesture.

"Couldn't resist, could you?" Aelita muttered under her breath. I gave her a playful shove, and she giggled. Took me a few seconds to realize that I was grinning like a fool before I turned back to Chris and tried to level my smile out.

"And this is Mehdi and Elise, who are the other contestants for this final audition," Chris said, gesturing to them.

"Hi," Elise said, sounding somewhat shy.

"Pleasure to meet you both. You both must be talented to have made it here," I said with a smile as I shook both of their hands politely. Elise grasped my hand for about a second longer than a traditional hand shake, which made me raise an eyebrow. She turned slightly red and I grinned.

"Shy, huh? I used to be like that. Not so much anymore. Still, there's no shame in it," I said brightly. She looked at me and gave me a cute little smile before nodding.

"So who's first?" Aelita asked. It seemed rather abrupt, but personally, I was ready to get this going too. Believe me, the less time we give XANA to launch an attack, the better.

Elise was up first, then it was Mehdi, then we were the last ones. Their songs were original mixes, but the song we did was, according to this dimension, an original song. It was likely that the Subdigitals would pick us, but I wouldn't hold my breath. Or shouldn't I?

"That's it then," Aelita said, looking at the band members. It snapped me out of my daze, and I nodded in agreement.

"Alright. Just give us a few minutes to talk it over," Chris said. I nodded before looking at my phone. My eyes widened at the sight of the messages about XANA.

"Oh no," I said, putting my hand over my mouth. Aelita looked at me.

"What's the matter?" she asked. I showed her my phone, and she got a similar worried look on her face.

"Oh, no. Well, maybe one of us can stay here and make an excuse for the other," Aelita suggested.

"No. I won't risk XANA coming after you, which I know he's going to do. We'll have to go out together," I told her.

"You're right," Aelita said with a sigh. We both checked to see if anyone was paying attention. They weren't, so we slipped out. "How long do you think XANA's been active while we were doing this?"

"I don't know, but any amount of time is too long for..." I paused as I saw a man wearing a suit across from us. And he looked fully focused on us. The icing on the cake was that his form flickered as if he were a TV with bad cable. "Twelve o clock. 00XANA approaching us."

"What do we do?" Aelita asked. I looked around and grabbed her hand to lead us down an alley. Her feet quickly caught up with what was going on. I had this town mentally mapped out. At least when it came to finding my way back to the factory. Cause that was always important. Could never afford to get lost no matter where we were.

Suddenly, I found myself stopping from electricity that had hit me in the back and I ended up letting go of Aelita's hand while gasping in pain. I forgot how much this shit hurt. Especially when I'm not powered by the tower.

"Leave him alone!" I heard Aelita yell. I heard her give off a grunt, which halted the flow of electricity to the point where I was able to breathe a small sigh of relief before looking up. From what I saw, she attempted to hit him with a nearby rock she found, but he grabbed her hand. Then with a quick motion, he flung her into the wall. A growl left my throat as I fully stood to my feet.

"Come on then," I said. I was moving as soon as I said the statement. I leaped on the wall that was next to me and landed on his left leg hard. I was stopping there as my hands went for his head, but he grabbed my arms. I quickly raised my foot and kicked him in the face before he could shock me. No finishing this fight quickly, then.

"Need some help?" Aelita asked, finishing rising to her feet.

"Get to the factory and help the others. I got him," I said, wincing slightly as my temporary adrenaline was gone. That kept me from feeling the pain of his electrical shocks. But it was gone now.

"Kick his ass," Aelita said before walking off. I grinned.

"My pleasure," I said.

"Let's see if you can manage that," XANA's specter said in a deep, distorted voice. I slipped on the gloves I always kept in my pocket before grabbing what I could assume was a plot pipe lying next to me. I spun the item while XANA simply changed his form, replacing his hands with swords.

"Oh, that's just not even fair," I said before I was ducking rapid swipes of his blade arms and forced to practically run from the onslaught. This pipe would not withstand that sword. So I had to use it for more practical things.

Ducking one simultaneous swipe, I swung the pipe at his leg I stepped on and it gave way a little. I put my hand on the blade that was awfully close to cutting me in half. It took all the strength I had to avoid being skewered instead of just dealing with the slight sting of the open wound on my hand. I took the opportunity and quickly came down on his head with the pipe.

Then I gasped. I looked down and the sensation of being stabbed seemed to register when I saw the blade piercing my gut. My next swing was weaker than my previous ones, but it still had force behind it. I felt satisfaction in seeing his nose break before he seemed to snap it back in place. Then the specter smirked at me.

"Bleed here and die like you were supposed to," he said before I arched my back from the blade leaving my gut. I was barely managing to stay on my feet while putting pressure on my wound. He threw his hands back for a swing, but I ducked under the blades while still holding my wound.

 _"Forgetting fighting at this point. Just run,"_ I said, moving as fast as I could to get out of the alley. But he was right behind me and it was only a matter of time before he caught up.

"Mind if I cut in?" I heard William exclaim. I turned around and it seemed he kicked the specter's head into a wall, knocking him unconscious. I sighed in relief.

"Isn't that perfect timing?" I said.

"I have a habit of doing that," William said with a wide grin before seeing me hold my stomach. "Oh, crap. How bad is it?"

"It doesn't seem to be extremely fatal. He didn't stick the blade all the way through me, and it didn't hit any vital parts of me. I'm just a bit dizzy from the blood loss," I told him as I leaned up straighter.

"Then we need to get you to a hospital. The others will be able to hold their own," William said in a concerned tone.

"Yeah. You got your phone on you?" I said as I let him ease me down to a sitting position. "I'd call themself, but..."

"Right here," he said, pulling it out. He began to call while keep his eye on the downed specter. At least William could hold his own while he wasn't on Lyoko. Thank goodness for that.

"I need an ambulance, and quickly. Er... across the street from the music studio. Quickly now. He was stabbed by someone, and the amount of blood is a clear indicator that it's not good. Thank you," William finished before hanging up. "They'll be here soon."

"In the meantime, find a pipe or something and keep whacking the specter upside the head if he tries to get up. I did that with someone he possessed, and he couldn't do anything. Just hit him as hard as you can until he falls unconscious. I recommend aiming straight at the temple though," I explained.

"It'll instantly knock him unconscious, got it," William said, looking around for some sort of blunt object. People began to gather around us and William assured them that he already called the ambulance, and that the man in the suit was very dangerous and crazy. That was enough to get people to form some kind of mob around him. This would definitely call for a return to the past. Daresay, this is the most public gathering we've ever gotten for dealing with XANA.

"How bad is it?" a man asked, coming up to me.

"Not that deep. Felt like it only went halfway in. But I know as long as I keep pressure on the wound, it'll be fine until the ambulance can get here," I told him.

"You're taking this like a champ kid. It's honestly kind of unnerving. I know I wouldn't be as calm as you are now if I was stabbed like this," the man said.

"Freaking out about the situation doesn't help anything. It just makes everything worse, to be honest. And besides, you wouldn't believe me if I said that I've had multiple experiences that are far worse than being stabbed," I said casually, wincing from a jolt of pain from my wound.

"How long are you going to take?" I heard William whisper on his phone. "Well, he got stabbed, so try to make it fast. Well, more like somewhere between stabbed and impaled. Hospital is coming, so you know what has to be done. Right. I'll do that."

He hung up the phone, and I realized that I completely blanked out as to what the man in front of me was saying. I blinked several times, causing him to look at me in concern.

"You alright?" he asked.

"Stupid blood loss," I said. It technically wasn't a lie. The loss of blood was giving me dizzy spells every few minutes. But that didn't affect my attention span.

As soon as he was about to open his mouth to speak again, the ambulance was coming down the street. I looked over to XANA, who's eyes opened as soon as I did. William immediately told the adults how dangerous he was and that he needed to be kept unconscious.

"Don't worry kid. I think..." He didn't even finish his sentence before XANA blasted him with lightning.

"I think we should've listened to the kid," one of the adults said.

"Just whack him upside the head one good time," I told them. XANA simply made himself intangible when William came down with the pipe in his hands before simply moving out of their range. He raised his hands like friggin' Emperor Palpatine before knocking out the other two adults next to William with lightning bolts.

 _"Of course. Most adults are pretty goddamn useless in Code Lyoko,"_ I thought as I rose to my feet as the ambulance got closer.

"It's probably a good idea to get to that ambulance quickly," he said.

"Let William deal with him. This may surprise you, but he's more capable to take him on than three adults," I told him, gesturing for help me to the vehicle. He looked at William, who jumped out of the way of another lightning bolt before catching XANA upside the head with a pipe before he could turn intangible. Then he went for his kneecaps before sending him off to dreamland with another hard hit to the skull. The crunching sounds made your cringe, but weirdly enough, it was satisfying to hear in a way.

"I think you're right," the man said before two paramedics rushed out of the car. They immediately looked at us and saw that I was cradling a stab wound.

"That's a pretty deep stab wound," one of them said.

"That's because I got impaled by a sword," I said dryly.

"A sword? What, are there ninjas in France?" the second paramedic questioned rhetorically as he helped me onto the stretcher.

"No, but there is a man in a suit who wants to kill anyone he can get his hands on," I said, gesturing to the unconscious XANA. Then his eyes landed on all of the unconscious adults.

"We don't have enough for that many people. We thought it was just one person," the first paramedic said.

"Oh, they'll survive. The electricity to their chest will leave a few third degree burns, but they'll be fine," I said casually.

"Electricity?" the second paramedic asked with a raise of his eyebrow.

"How about you get me to a hospital first? Then you can ask all the voltage related questions you want once I'm not staining the nice concrete sidewalk, mmkay?" I told him.

"You have a strange bit of casualness about this," the first paramedic said. But he didn't say anything further. He didn't need to and he couldn't have as the white flash of the Return to the Past filled my vision.

* * *

"Auditions were a success. We're the Subdigitals' opening act," I said, walking in the Wreck Room with a guitar in hand. I had a guitar case around my waist as well to fit it. Chris gave me this guitar as a parting gift after I pulled off a few guitar solos. This electric guitar would suit my purposes just fine.

"Nice job you two," Yumi congratulated.

"Yeah, nice job. You two must be really good at this," William said.

"We are," Aelita and me said at the same time. I looked her and gave her a playful nudge, making her giggle. It was like that was a surefire way of making her giggle cutely. I smiled widely and my pulse rose a little. Luckily, no one in here was armed with a heart monitor.

"In any case, it's in the bag. There's no one we have to compete with," Aelita said.

"All that's left is to knock the world dead with how good you two are," Odd said with a grin.

"Me and thy loyal knight shall slayeth our performance," Aelita said with a slight bow in my direction.

"I will not disappoint milady," I said, putting my guitar in front of my face like it was a lance. Everyone laughed at the display.

"How many times are you two going to do that?" Jeremy asked with a grin. But the grin seemed slightly forced. I chose to ignore that little detail.

"Until the end of time. It's our thing," I said, twirling the guitar like a baton. It was a lot easier than you would think.

"Anyhow, what's with the guitar? You two... Wait... that's not the guitar I gave you," Ulrich noted.

"Correct. Chris gave this to me when I showed him a few other songs. He may or may not be the biggest fan of Disturbed's lyrics, but he at least likes the guitar solos. So he passed me this beauty," I said as I started playing Hail To the King for a few seconds before stopping. "And contrary to my previous belief, you don't need an amp to make this work."

"Just what you were looking for, huh?" Ulrich said with a grin.

"Exactly. But I'm still keeping the guitar you gave me. I do love em both," I said. The guitar Ulrich gave me was acoustic and had a black with flames artwork done it. The guitar Chris gave me was sleeker and had a nice red, blue, and white paint job. Give how I was an American, he figured this one would be perfect for me.

"So what's this guitar for? You giving us an early preview of the performance? If so, remember, I want to go into the show blind," Yumi told me.

"Oh, no. We're not doing Courtesy Call. Actually it's going to be just me doing the song. I talked to Jim and he said it's alright for me to use the gym for a few minutes to play some music. Plus there are some amps to... well, amplify things. It's time to introduce you all to a little Alice Cooper," I said with a grin.

"You're singing a girl's song?" Yumi asked.

"This may surprise you, but he's actually a guy," I said, making everyone's eyes widen slightly.

"Seriously? Why'd his parents give him the name Alice?" Odd asked.

"I have no idea. But hey. He makes bomb music along with his band, so there's no reason to question it. A lot of it I discovered due to his association with putting his songs in Friday the 13th movies. That's a horror genre by the way. But his music was more or less had an association to rock considering that a lot of victims that were killed in that movie were a bunch of horny teens from the eighties, so it makes sense," I explained.

"What is it with you and things that are relatively brutal?" Jeremy asked.

"It's badass to watch. The horror and surprises along the way are awesome. I know pretty much everyone here has watched a horror movie," I said.

"Guilty," Odd said.

"Guilty," William said.

"Guilty," Ulrich said.

"Guilty," Yumi said.

"Oh, boy. You and Aelita are the only ones who haven't seen a horror movie. This is a damn shame," I said, shaking my head.

"Maybe we'll change that one day in the future. For now, how about that Alice Cooper song you wanted to show off?" Aelita said, raising the CD I asked her to carry while I held onto my guitar.

"That I shall do," I said, gesturing for them to follow me. It was a straight shot to the gym. There were a few stares when people saw me walking past in what obviously was a guitar case, but that was about it.

"Let's do this," I said, holding my guitar with one hand effortlessly as I climbed on the bleachers. I don't know why I felt the need to be elevated while playing this song.

"Ready?" Aelita asked, her hands on the player.

"Ready," I confirmed as soon as I plugged the amp in. The speakers were far away, so no one's ear drums would be harmed in this performance. Though anyone walking by will easily hear this. That was fine though.

As soon as the beat started, I started nodding my head while immediately starting to play the guitar. I was always glad to have a little build to the song before diving into the lyrics. I felt more juiced up that way, so to speak.

 _I'm the kid on the block  
_ _With my head made of rock  
_ _And I ain't got nobody  
_

 _I'm the state of the art  
_ _Got a brain a la carte  
_ _I make the babies cry_

 _I ain't one of the crowd  
_ _I ain't one of the guys  
_ _They just avoid me  
_ _They run and they hide_

 _Are my colors too bright  
_ _Are my eyes set too wide  
_ _I spend my whole life  
_ _Burning, turning_

 _I'm a teenage Frankenstein  
_ _The local freak with the twisted mind  
_ _I'm a teenage Frankenstein  
_ _These ain't my hands  
_ _And these legs ain't mine_

 _Got a synthetic face  
_ _Got some scars and a brace  
_ _My hands are rough and bloody_

 _I walk into the night  
_ _Women faint at the sight  
_ _I ain't no cutie-pie_

 _I can't walk in the day  
_ _I must walk in the night  
_ _Stay in the shadows  
_ _Stay out of the light_

 _Are my shoulders too wide  
_ _Is my head screwed on tight  
_ _I spend my whole life  
_ _Burning, turning_

 _I'm a teenage Frankenstein  
_ _The local freak with the twisted mind  
_ _I'm a teenage Frankenstein  
_ _These ain't my arms  
_ _And these legs ain't mine_

The guitar solos are what got me when it came to these kinds of songs. But the fact that I was actually playing the guitar that made the solo happen was pretty damn awesome. I had my eyes closed and was moving my body erratically in the best thing to a dance that I could pull off while playing the guitar. No wonder people made careers out of this stuff. I was just performing this stuff, but these people MADE them. That knowledge alone had to have made this sensation ten times better.

 _I ain't one of the crowd  
_ _I ain't one of the guys  
_ _They just avoid me  
_ _They run and they hide_

 _Are my colors too bright  
_ _Are my eyes set too wide  
_ _I spend my whole life  
_ _Burning, turning_

 _I'm a teenage Frankenstein  
_ _The local freak with the twisted mind  
_ _I'm a teenage Frankenstein  
_ _These ain't my hands  
_ _And these legs ain't mine_

 _I'm a teenage Frankenstein  
_ _The local freak with the twisted mind  
_ _I'm a teenage Frankenstein  
_ _These ain't my arms  
_ _And these legs ain't mine_

I finished with a flourish and smile as I saw all my friends clapping. Odd even let out a cliche whistle, that made me roll my eyes. Nevertheless, I was grinning widely like a fool.

"That is way too much fun," I said, unplugging the guitar.

"One of these days you're going to have your own stage. You pulled that song off a hell of a lot better than you did that song you did in the hospital," Ulrich said.

"That's because this kinda music is more my speed. Wild and energetic. Not to mention a side of sick guitar solos," I said before flexing my slightly agitated fingers. "Speaking of which, that works the fingers a surprising amount. That was just one song."

"I'm sure you'll get used to it. We have some free time. How about we take a trip into town and celebrate the success of you two?" William said, putting arms around me and Aelita's shoulders.

"I say that sounds like an excellent idea. I'll get my wallet," I said, walking towards my dorm.

"Uh uh. I got it. That way you can pay me back a lot of interest when you get famous," William said with a grin.

"Baby steps, William. Baby steps," I said. Didn't stop my grin from growing wider.

"Just think. This is actually happening. The two of you ending up about as famous as the Subsonics. Possibly more," Yumi said.

"Just think of the fan girls," Odd said with a suggestive raise of his eyebrows.

"Who needs fan girls when you already have these two lovely ladies around you?" I said, gesturing to Yumi and Aelita.

"Flattery will get you everywhere," Aelita said with a grin before kissing me on the cheek. My cheeks were red hot, and for the life of me, I could not make eye contact with anyone.

"She's not wrong," Yumi said, mimicking Aelita's gesture. I didn't think it was possible, but my cheeks still got brighter. Now I felt like a Jack-o-Lantern with skin.

"It's hard to tell, but I think he's actually blushing," Yumi said, pointing at me. I turned away, and the both of them giggled.

"I damn the both of you," I said flatly. They just giggled harder. Jesus, since when was Yumi such a girly girl?

"And you all have the nerve to call _me_ Casanova," Odd said, gesturing to everyone around him. I cleared my throat.

"Mind if we go ahead and head out? Before steam starts coming out of my ears?" I asked, making everyone laugh. Even Ulrich and Jeremy looked extremely amused.

"Ah, you'll be fine. Besides, as brash as you can be, it's adorable to see you all shy and blushing," Aelita said with a grin.

"I don't do adorable. No guy does adorable, really," I told them.

"Amen brother," everyone who wasn't Aelita and Yumi said. I laughed. This was one thing every guy could agree on. Jeremy included.

"So all of you prefer devilishly handsome?" Yumi questioned.

"Yes. Very much," William said with a nod.

"And speaking for myself, I know I am," Odd said with a self assured grin.

"Odd. Your head makes you look like a jelly filled donut," I said flatly, making everyone splutter out a laugh. "Perhaps a Devil's Food Cake is more your speed?"

"Wouldn't surprise me. He makes love to food all the time," Ulrich joked, making everyone laugh to the point where everyone was barely on their feet.

"At least I don't have hair that makes me look one of those emo pretty boys in sitcoms," Odd said before flipping to front of Ulrich's hair and speaking in a type of Elvis sort of tone. "Thank you. Thank you very much.'"

It was the perfect image that Odd managed to construct that caused my legs to give out on me to where I looked like I was about to crawl. And I wasn't the only one off my feet. Everyone was trying and failing to stay upright. Even Ulrich. I could watch these two go back and forth all day.

"I don't think I've laughed that hard in a long time," Jeremy said, taking his glasses off to wipe tears from his eyes.

"Seriously. I am literally crying right now," I said, wiping my eyes furiously. I could barely breathe at this point. "Oh, my goodness. Now I definitely need a drink."

"Seriously. Let's head out to town. Burgers everyone?" William asked.

"Sounds good to me," I said.

"Please. Anything that's edible is good enough for you two," Aelita said with a roll of her eyes.

"Well, I could eat you," I said, smoothly stepping in front of her with a grin on my face. "I mean, you _do_ look good enough to eat."

That came out so much smoother than I thought. Maybe that's cause I wasn't thinking before I said it. It just kinda came out. Her cheeks went a bright red before she was looking away just like I was a few minutes ago. I was looking at her, still grinning. I then turned around to the others, most of which looked kind of stunned.

"I play too. Shall we get going?" I questioned. If anyone thought that it was a flirt, I would deny it. Even though it was likely true. Ok, forget likely. It was true. But I doubt she would think anything of it.

* * *

A/N: I'm enjoying writing this. The general goofiness of everyone, the somewhat serious tones of that the show is capable of. Oh, not to mention saying statements that are about as subtle as Michael Bay armed with an RPG and surrounded by gas tanks.


	43. Chapter 43 - Lyoko Copies

Episode References: Replika

* * *

"Ok, let me just say what I'm thinking right now," I said evenly as I put the headphones down. "YOU WHAT?!" I would deny hearing my voice crack when I yelled. Aelita winced.

"Look, I wasn't thinking at the time..."

"Obviously. Because my brain is completely fried from that thought," I said, pacing back and forth with my hand on my head. So Aelita caught me up on the fact that she accepted to go on a date with Nicholas out of all people after we finished practicing in the gym. When it comes to Jeremy, I could handle him asking Aelita on a date. Even though he hasn't done it yet, it would make sense. The fact that _Nicholas_ got a date with _Aelita;_ an utter idiot who does nothing but move to the beck and call of Sissi, before I did is completely mind boggling. Is this a dream? And by dream, I mean of the Freddy Krueger variety.

 _"God, I can't believe I could possibly be jealous of Nicholas out of all people,"_ I thought, shaking my head in disgust.

"It's not really an issue. I'll just make an excuse. Like I did with Odd," Aelita said, a distasteful expression coming to her face.

"Ah. The whole reason why you even made such a rash decision in the first place," I said, putting the mic back into position. "I'm on your side in this case."

"Glad to see that. But can I get a reason?" Aelita asked.

"Odd was the one who spent the entire night playing his game and that resulted him being too tired to get up for class. Then he gives you the responsibility of covering for him when you, in no way shape or form felt it was even necessary. You bothered with it because you were being a good friend. And in any case, he's being ungrateful. Even if I didn't know either of you, it'd be a no brainer," I said easily. And that was true. Odd had absolutely no right to be mad when he was the one that fucked up.

"You going to talk to him about it?" Aelita asked.

"Eventually. If if either of you decide to make this an issue," I said, eyeing her seriously. "You're not going to make this an issue, are you?"

"I don't plan on talking to Odd until he apologizes," Aelita said.

"Yeah, that's going to be an issue. Remember the last time there was a lack of communication? Could've gotten me and Ulrich killed?" I reminded her.

"I certainly don't want a reminder on that. It was almost a week before you even talked to me," Aelita said, frowning immediately. She also sounded slightly bummed out.

"Well, I was upset. It's imperative that you don't let an argument get in the way of the important stuff. AKA, life threatening situations. I don't care if I'm mad at any of you. I'd let you know if something dangerous was going down. But I'll let that go," I said evenly before I took the CD out of the player and put it in the case.

"You're hardly ever mad, and when you are, it doesn't last very long, you don't let it get in the way of XANA, but it's somehow worse than everyone else's," Aelita said.

"Cause when a person that almost always stays calms gets mad, it makes a bigger impression. Before then, none of you have seen me angry at you. And it made an impression, didn't it?" I questioned.

"Most definitely," Aelita said.

"Well, there you go," I said. "I don't like being mad at any of you, but I will call you out on all of your bullshit. A person might think they're doing the right thing by not calling their friend out when they're wrong, but it's the opposite. If you care, you tell them like is. I'm an honest person. I will tell you if you're making a big mistake or being stupid. But it's because I care."

"Makes sense. It's proof that you're not like most guys," Aelita said.

"I like to think that it's better that way," I said with a smile. "Now, _you_ madam, have detention. I'll see you later?"

"Definitely. Unfortunately," Aelita said with a sigh.

"Also, do tell Nicholas the actual situation. Don't make an excuse. Just give it to him straight. Cause I know that's what you're going to do," I said with a knowing look.

"Well, I see you know me about as well as I know you. But I tend not to be not as blunt as you," Aelita said.

"In some cases, that's a good thing. But in this case, it would cause less problems if you're honest instead of making up something," I told her.

"You're right. Surprising amount of wisdom for someone who's head is so thick," Aelita said, making me grin widely.

"Yes, I have a head made of titanium. It keeps me alive. But I have a lot of things in this head. Good and bad. But go ahead and head off to detention. And if you want me to bail you out, I'll knock Jim out and put him in the storage closet. I've perfected my flying kick," I said, making her laugh lightly.

"If I ever get the urge, I'll text you," she said before walking out. I watched her walk away before shaking my head.

 _"Lita, Lita, Lita. What in the hell am I going to do with you?"_ I thought as I walked out.

* * *

"So you're taking her side?" Odd asked.

"Yes. Cause you're not on the right side of this," I told him.

"What a surprise that you take her side," Odd said, rolling his eyes and throwing his hands in the air.

"Cause she's not the one who's wrong in this case. You messed up by staying up all night, and she didn't have to cover your ass. But she did. And for that, what did she get for being a good friend? Detention and you complaining that she didn't come up with a good enough lie? How would you feel if the roles were reversed? If you covered for Aelita, or me, or anyone that you considered your friend, and all they did was give you lip for you trying to cover for them, how would you feel?" I explained.

"Pretty upset," Odd reluctantly admitted.

"Exactly. Now come on. Stop this. Apologize to her so you two can stop being mad at each other. I mean, this is stupid," I said, raising my hands and lowering them as quickly as they were raised to show my exasperation.

"You're right. As usual. I'll apologize to her," Odd said.

"Great. Now do yourself a favor. Either take your ass to bed or at least learn how to use the Supercomputer so you can make a copy of yourself by activating a tower," I told him.

"If I can learn to send you all to Lyoko, I can learn that. Hey, you think I can use the clone everyday?" Odd asked hopefully.

"No. Not only could that possibly lead to a ton of suspicion if two Odds are seen walking around, but we have to turn off the Supercomputer sometime. You may as well learn before then," I told him.

"The horror," Odd said flatly, making me laugh shortly.

"Yes. It's a petrifying experience. Now get in there," I said, gesturing my head towards the cafeteria. I smiled before I was tapped on my shoulder. I looked around, and it was Sissi there. My smile instantly disappeared, and I was instantly wary.

"Can I help you?" I asked.

"I just want to talk to you. I'm not here to fight. Or argue. Or be insulted," Sissi said with a pointed look.

"Note that I only insult you when you ask for it. But that's neither here nor there. What do you want to talk about?" I asked.

"How about we bury the hatchet?" Sissi asked.

"You mean, you want to bury a hatchet in my skull or..."

"Please don't be on the same level of comedy as Odd," Sissi said flatly. "I'm trying to be serious."

"What brought this on?" I asked.

"It's starting to get old that I get put down every time I say something," Sissi said.

"That's because every time you come to our table, instead of saying something nice or even remotely courteous, you just act like a bitch," I said simply.

"Speaking of courteous..." Sissi trailed.

"Hey, you haven't earned my courtesy yet. If you want to prove that you are, try being nice. I know it'll be hard; given how you've acted over the last year of schooling, but do put in some effort," I said.

"I'll do my best. Even Odd's not as big of a cheeseball. At least when he thinks he's not talking to me," Sissi said as an afterthought.

"That's right. You two did message each other at one point before actually meeting. How'd that turn out?" I asked.

"Basically a few weeks of peace before we hated each other's guts again," Sissi said bluntly.

"Well, that's no good. Didn't you two actually like each other when you were talking online?" I asked.

"Well, yes. But we hate each others' guts on principle," Sissi said as if it were obvious. I only shook my head.

"That's a topic for another day," I said, waving a dismissive hand. "So you're going to try being nice."

"Don't go too far. I just said I wanted to bury the hatchet. There's no promise of being friends," Sissi clarified.

"Oh, but of course your highness," I said sarcastically. "Fine. I'll leave it alone if you leave it alone."

"Yeah. Also, I feel the need to apologize about what happened with Emily," Sissi said awkwardly.

"You mean you set him up to do that?" I said, a small amount of venom making its way into my tone.

"No. I just feel like apologizing on his behalf. Even by my standards, that was low," Sissi said.

"Yes. Because your standards are blackmailing people into kissing you so that hopefully Aelita would return to Canada. That's much better," I said with a heavy amount of sarcasm.

"I'm also sorry about that," Sissi said.

"Now _that_ I'll accept the apology on. The first, you can keep. There's no point on you apologizing on that front. I've gotten over it. Now I bid you farewell. Hopefully the next time we speak, you will have shed your bitchy skin," I said, nodding in her direction before grabbing a tray of food and taking a seat with the others. I was going to make a snake joke, but she might see it as offensive. That usually doesn't stop me, but then again, she is trying here. More than she's ever attempted before.

"What'd Sissi want?" Aelita asked.

"Apparently she wants to bury the hatchet," I said.

"Bury it in your skull or..." Odd trailed.

"Goddammit, I _am_ turning into you," I said, shaking my head in disbelief.

"Sissi?" Jeremy questioned in disbelief. "Seriously?"

"I couldn't believe it either. I just told her to shed the bitchiness and we'll be fine," I said, making Yumi snort.

"Good luck with that. Bitch kinda sums up her description," she said, taking a bite of food.

"That's her problem. Not mine. If she wants to bury the hatchet, then it's up to her. Doesn't really matter to me which decision she makes," I said with a shrug, putting a forkful of fries in my mouth. "Mmm. Good fries."

"Seriously. Must be something new they're trying," Ulrich said.

"Anyway, I can assume you're the reason Odd apologized to Aelita?" William asked.

"All I had to do was showing him how much a dick he was being. He listens. At least to me," I said evenly. "Remember, I have no issues calling you all out on your bullshit."

"Robert Morgan, brutally honest and fiercely loyal," Aelita said, giving me a thumb up.

"Don't forget incredibly handsome," I said, popping my collar.

"Mmm. I guess I can't disagree with that," Aelita said, a small smirk on her face.

"Anyway, haven't we talked about exploring the Replika with the Skid?" Jeremy interjected abruptly. I glanced up at Aelita and she gave me a small smile. I looked back down at my food. I was _so_ getting mixed signals from this.

"We can do it tonight," William suggested. " The sooner, the better, right?"

"Slow down there Jethro. We don't even know if you're coming quite yet. We don't even know what's in that Replika," Yumi told him.

"Wouldn't hurt to have some extra help, right?" William asked.

"It wouldn't. The extra help would be nice. Especially considering even I can't remember what's inside. I know it's a direct copy of Lyoko, but that's it. And there's some vague memory of a giant monster as well, but I'm not even sure what that's about," I said, taking another bite of food.

"Giant monster?" Jeremy questioned.

"Something we're going to have to fight later down the road. Not sure if it'll be when we go in that Replika or further down the line," I said.

"Sounds like fun," Odd said.

"You do know that if it steps on you, you'll be devirtualized instantly, right?" I told him.

"Then we'll definitely need to prepare ourselves for that. And given everything that could happen in that situation, I'm not sure if bringing William is a good idea. I mean, he's been on Lyoko once, and that's definitely not enough time to take on a monster like that," Jeremy said.

"Well, that's not going to help anything if we don't let him on Lyoko," Aelita reminded him.

"And there's always the chance that XANA will take him over using the Scyphozoa. Like what, from what Robert told us, initially happened," Jeremy reminded her in an insistent tone.

"I'd love to see the Scyphozoa get close with all of us standing guard. Even then, it doesn't have to be now. We just let him onto Lyoko and let him practice for a bit. That way when he does get onto Lyoko, he's not completely useless," Aelita told him before looking at William quickly. "Um... not to say that you're useless. It's just that..."

"Aelita, you're fine," William said with a small chuckle. "I get it."

"She's got a point Jeremy. William isn't going to be of much help once you and Yumi decide that he's ready," Odd said, pointing his fork at the both of them. "He needs to get a feel for that gigantic sword of his. We can all be his trainers; keep an eye on him if XANA shows up."

"I think that's a solid idea. We can pull him out if we even see one tentacle. You've got his devirtualization code made, right?" I asked.

"Yes, but..."

"Then let's try it. Trust me. _Nothing_ works if you don't show some initiative," Aelita said. I raised an eyebrow cause I didn't miss the second meaning behind her tone. That didn't slip by me.

"Fine. We'll make a day. You can all help him with his moves. I'll see what I can do to help," Jeremy said, raising his hands in exasperation.

"Good. Glad we're all on the same page," Aelita said evenly, grabbing her fork and digging into her food. "The training can wait though. We've got a Replika to explore tonight."

* * *

"And... dive," I said as the ship sunk into the digital sea. As promised, I was the one piloting the Skid this time.

 _"Holo-web system connected. Robert, set course for Baring 170, and look out for a hub,"_ Jeremy said.

"Got it," I said, moving the ship towards the oddly shaped buildings that we went towards the first trip down here.

 _"Now I'll enter the coordinates for the sphere that you guys saw during your last mission,"_ Jeremy said.

"I can see the hub now," I said as soon as the coordinates started to come through. I looked over everything and made sure nothing was out of place. We were fine.

"Time to dive," I said, lowering the ship down into the hub.

Then a vision similar to being transferred crossed my vision. Except it was different. Rather than energy flowing, it looked more like we were moving through someone's bloodstream. It was weird.

Seconds later we popped out of the hub, but we were coming in way too fast, so I hit the brakes. I hit the lights so we could see better.

 _"I see someone knows how to drive,"_ Aelita said with a teasing tone.

"Of course I can," I said haughtily before looking everything over. "Everything seems to be in place. All systems are green."

 _"How long do you give until we see XANA?"_ Ulrich asked.

"Probably two minutes after we enter that Replika," I said, flying the ship slowly towards the sphere. "And... we're in front of the sphere. Jeremy, now what?"

 _"Um... check the South Pole for an entry way. If it really is a Replika, than there should be one down there just like Lyoko,"_ Jeremy said.

"Got it," I said.

Flying the ship down towards the South Pole of the sphere, I noticed that unlike with Lyoko, there was a XANA symbol there. Some sort of lock?

"It's sealed. There's no way in from down here. Unless there's some sort of... wait..." I said before placing my palm on the hand reader. "I activated the key. Jeremy, what are we looking at here?"

 _"There's an access code to crack. It's going to take a couple of minutes,"_ Jeremy said.

"That's fine. We have all night," I said, leaning back as much as I could.

 _"I don't want this taking all night. I'll have a grand old time explaining to my parents why I'm stumbling in at six in the morning,"_ Yumi said dryly.

 _"Well my past experiences are anything to go by, Galactic Battle will not be a good enough excuse,"_ Odd said.

 _"Yumi isn't you anyway Odd. Like she favors sleep over blasting aliens,"_ Ulrich said.

 _"Alright, I've cracked the code,"_ Jeremy said as the hatch began to open.

"Nice work Jer. We're going in," I said, flying in the access port.

It was just as predicted. It was an exact copy of Lyoko. Only we were just in the forest region.

 _"Well, this is Lyoko, but it's just in the forest region. What's up with that?"_ William asked.

 _"No idea. Still, we're here to explore and that's what we'll do. What would he have to gain by making another Lyoko?"_ Aelita asked.

 _"I don't know, but you can bet it's not to save humanity. He's probably got a lot more copies exactly like this one,"_ Jeremy said.

"Maybe it's so he can activate towers if he still has plans to use Aelita to take down the regions on our version of Lyoko," I suggested.

 _"What should we do about them?"_ Ulrich asked.

 _"I vote we find a way to get rid of them,"_ William said.

 _"That has merit, but we need to figure what we're up against first. And that starts with exploring this place,"_ Jeremy said.

"Agreed. We'll go check it out. Should we leave William here?" I questioned.

 _"You mentioned some kind of giant monster, right?"_ Aelita asked.

"Yeah, but I'm not sure if it's here. But at the same time, I don't want to take any risks," I said, frowning slightly.

 _"I can stay here and look after the ship,"_ William said.

"Yeah, but there's no way for you to do anything to it with your level of training, and I can't energize you back in once I'm out here without cutting into the Skid to get back in. Jeremy, we'll have to work on some sort of energizing program for your end," I told him.

 _"Agreed. But for now, we'll have risk it. If I see one tentacle from the Scyphozoa William, I'm pulling you out, alright?"_ Jeremy said.

 _"Got it,"_ William agreed.

"Then let's go explore," I said before typing on the keys next to me. "Energize."

"All this for another forest territory?" Odd questioned once we were on the ground.

"Well, we still don't know what he's doing with them, so who knows what he could be doing with this space," I said before looking at William, who kept his blade hoisted on his back. It was weird seeing him without the black suit and the XANA symbol on his chest. "How's the sword?"

"It was heavy when I lugged it from the elevator to the Skid, and that feeling hasn't changed," William said.

"You'll get used to it. We all get used to our weapons eventually," Ulrich said, pulling out a blade and twirling it to emphasize his point.

 _"Ok, you can all work in groups of three. One group goes exploring while another guards the Skid. How you divide yourselves is up to you,"_ Jeremy said.

"Aelita and Ulrich, I want you both on me. William, Yumi, and Odd can stay on the Skid. I'm sure all of you can handle guarding the Skid while we take care of what we need to," I explained, making everyone nod in agreement.

 _"Alright. Here's the Overbike Ulrich. I'm sure you and Aelita can manage easily enough without rides,"_ Jeremy said.

"You wanna fly?" I asked her.

"Nah. I think I'd rather go old school for this ride," Aelita said, making me crouch so she could hop onto my back.

"Then let's get going," I said before moving quickly in a Force Sprint while Ulrich revved his engine.

"What do you think we'll find?" I asked.

"Probably something relatively dangerous, important to XANA, both, or nothing at all," Aelita said.

"I really hope it's the last one, but we all know that's not going to be the case," Ulrich said.

 _"Uh oh. We got bad news,"_ Jeremy said.

"Lay it on us," I said.

 _"XANA sent some mega tanks to attack the Skid. I need you all back there quickly,"_ Jeremy said.

"Isn't the point of leaving a guard around the Skid is so they can protect it while we explore?" I questioned.

 _"Well, yes, but... four mega tanks can be a bit much for anyone,"_ Jeremy said, making me sigh.

"Fine. I'll head back," I said before turning around back towards the Skid.

"I can fly there. You don't need me slowing you down," Aelita said before hopping off my back. I was immediately able to start running faster.

Coming in hot behind a mega tank, I was able to put some Force energy in front of my body while I ran at the mega tank in front of me, launching it like a soccer ball off the edge.

"Ha!" I said before flipping backwards to dodge a blast.

"Nice of you to show up," William said before dodging to the side. But with some obvious effort, given the size of the blade he was holding.

"I love having uncanny timing," I said, charging more energy in my hands before pushing another mega tank off the edge. "These narrow paths work well for me."

The tanks seemed to hear me or realize this, so they all converged in the middle before opening up to try and arm a blast aimed at the Skid.

"Oh, no you don't!" Odd said, jumping in front of the tank before rapidly firing off arrows. Odd traded all of his life points for the tank's life. One tank left. Well, there _was_ one tank left until Aelita hit it with an energy blast. Those things were ridiculously powerful. Even the mega tank's armor couldn't withstand it.

"That's that. Should we abort?" Aelita asked, deactivating her wings as she landed in front of me.

 _"Possibly. If XANA keeps sending monsters while we try and find anything, it just keeps the Skid at risk. Maybe there's a better way we can do this,"_ Jeremy said.

"Let's do a little research. There's gotta be something we can find," Aelita said.

"And find something we will. But for now, I'd prefer to turn in," I said.

 _"Agreed. I should be able to send you all back from here as well as get the Skid back once that's done,"_ Jeremy said.

"Now we've just got to do a little research on this stupid sphere. We'll find a way to take it down," I said, tightening my right fist.

"You can count on Einstein to find a way," Odd said, making me nod.


	44. Chapter 44 - Winter Drama

"I see someone still hasn't lost their music touch. That's a new mix," I said, taking the headphones off.

"Yeah, I've been practicing in between moments when we aren't researching ways to make teleporting into the real world as specters easier. Or looking for more Replikas," Aelita said. She sounded tired, but looked happy.

"Well, gratefully, winter vacation's almost here. Which means other than XANA, you won't have any problems. And even, that's a maybe," I said with a smile.

"Oh, yeah. The Christmas holidays," Aelita said. Instead of sounding happy, she sounded sad.

"You don't seem all that happy about it," I said with a frown.

"I mean, I'm definitely glad for the break. I'm just not eager to spend it alone, you know?" Aelita asked.

"I guess I count for nothing, huh?" I said casually.

"That's not..." She cut herself off when she saw the grin on my face. "Well, I would assume that you'd spend the vacation with Yumi's parents."

"I won't if you won't. I'd rather spend this time with you than with Yumi's folks," I said kindly, making her smile. My heart did a guilty little flutter. Crap, I have it bad.

"Thank you. But it's just... I dunno. I feel like I would just get in the way," Aelita said.

"And I wouldn't get in the way if I was going? And you didn't think to tell me this? Me thinks someone's being rather irrational," I said, pretending to stroke a beard that wasn't there.

"Oh, stuff it you silly bastard," Aelita said with a giggle.

"Speaking of stuffing things, can you not bring up up this friggin winter dance again? I told you, I'm not going," I said.

"Everyone is going to be there. Well, everyone if I can pry Jeremy away from the computer for a couple of hours. But we can all show up as a group. We don't even have to have dates. Well, we all know Odd is going to bring one, but the point still stands," Aelita said before putting both her hands on my right arm and giving me a pleading look. "Come on. Everyone won't be everyone unless you're there."

"If Jeremy says no, I will automatically be vetoed from this requirement," I said, giving her a serious stare.

"Believe me, I don't plan on taking no for an answer," Aelita said. That response kind of made me deflate a little. Ah, of course. She wanted to take Jeremy. So much for asking. That is, if I could've hardened my nerve enough to even bother asking.

"Well, I hope it goes well for you," I said with a smile, hoping it didn't look forced.

"Thanks. And hey, you might find somebody at the dance you might like," Aelita said.

"I highly doubt that," I said easily.

"Such a Negative Nancy," Aelita said playfully.

"That was the pot calling the kettle black a few minutes ago," I said before gesturing her to follow me out of the gym.

* * *

"So are you really not asking anyone?" Odd asked.

"For the last time Odd, no. I half don't even want to be there in the first place," I said in an exasperated tone.

"Well, you're going and we're making it our duty to make sure you look as good as you can be," Yumi said.

"If I don't have a date, what is even the point of getting me a suit?" I said, raising my arms in exasperation.

"The point is so that you can show up without a date and leave with one," William said. "And, you know, someone who shall not be named wants to get back at Emily for dumping you." I looked at Yumi with raised eyebrows while she glared at William, who was not so subtly pointing at her.

"Seriously?" I questioned.

"Hey, you may not be upset with her, but I am. And you looking your best is the best way I can do that. It'd be even better if you would find a date," Yumi said with a pointed look.

"I'm not going to this dance to fulfill your need for revenge. I'm only coming because Aelita convinced me that this was a group thing," I said with a pointed look.

"You think she can get Einstein out of his chair to go to the dance?" Odd asked with a grin.

"I'm sure there are ways she can convince him," William said with a waggle of his eyebrows. I almost wanted to punch him.

"Look, as fascinating as this conversation is, mind if we move onto doing what we came here for?" I said as I gestured to the suit shop.

"Fine. We'll get you fitted for something," Ulrich said as we all walked in the shop.

"Well, this is certainly the youngest group I've had in my shop thus far. How can I help you all?" a man asked as he walked from behind the counter.

"You're here to help him. It doesn't matter what you put him if it's within the range of five hundred dollars," Odd said, making me snap my head to him.

"You have enough money to get all that?" I asked, my tone somewhat concerned.

"Not all..." Odd said in a low tone of voice.

"You didn't think this was coming out of my pockets, did you?" I questioned, my look turning a little icy.

"We'll pay you back," he said weakly. I was about to tear into him when Yumi stepped forward.

"Something in the range of two hundred. Cause that's all we can muster up together," Yumi said, shooting a look at Odd. Yumi saved his ass. Because if he thought he was going to use my money to pay for an expensive ass suit I didn't even ask for, he'd pay for it out of his hide.

"I'm sure there is something I can find. Come with me," the man said, gesturing for me to follow him. As I walked away, I heard the unmistakable impact of a fist striking an arm, followed by an 'ow' from Odd. That made me feel a little better.

* * *

"God, I remember why I hate shopping," I said as I adjusted the collar of the suit I was wearing. This was the fourth one I was trying. But honestly, this one I did like. This one had a center vent while the sleeves were rolled back while fitting on my arms perfectly. And it was black, which was a plus. Then again, a lot of suits were. I did not know what it was with me and wearing black.

"I like this," I said as I walked out of the dressing room with my arms extended out to look at it properly.

"Someone cleans up nice," Yumi said, looking at me up and down.

"She's right. That's the suit for you," Ulrich said.

"Well, alright then. Let me change then," I said before looking at the price tag on the suit. "Hundred and fifteen. Sure you can handle that?"

"You're not the only person who has so money on them. We can get it," Yumi said.

"Alright," I said, heading into the dressing room to get back into my regular clothes.

"There's another thing to this dance. You might be interested in it," Ulrich said from outside the door.

"Go on," I said as I removed the jacket and dress shirt.

"Well, you could talk to Jim about running the music aspect of the dance," Odd said, making me pause.

"Me being the DJ?" I questioned.

"Well, you did mention that you were going to the dance without a date. So we talked to Jim and all you have to do is follow up with him about running the music. Provided it isn't like some of the music that you listen to," Ulrich told me.

"You mean more vulgar than a prostitute's hotel on the weekends?" I asked.

"Where do you come up with these phrases?" William asked as I started to put my pants and shoes on.

"It's a gift," I said simply.

I finished dressing myself before walking out of the dressing room with the suit folded neatly on my arm. Now I had a more suitable purpose to go to this dance. I was going to be the DJ. I could play a few instrumentals, do a few songs. It could be a good night. Alright, now I had more of a reason to go to this dance.

"Robert?" Ulrich asked.

"Huh?" I asked, blinking a few times quickly.

"The guy needs to scan the clothes before you can actually leave with them," Odd said in a joking manner.

"Right," I said, putting the clothes on the counter. "I just got lost in thought."

"I can assume you're thinking about what music to use?" Ulrich asked.

"Apparently Aelita isn't the only one who can read me like a book," I said dryly, making the others grin.

"Well, I think we all can. Well, most of the time," Yumi said as she took out her wallet. I paused for a second before pulling out mine as well.

"We got it," Yumi reminded me in an insistent tone.

"I know that. But I feel cheap if I don't pay for at least some of it, so..." I said, pulling out a twenty and putting it on the table. "..deal with it."

"Saves some of us money," Odd said, pulling out money of his own. Everyone pitched in a twenty, so it was a little more than enough to pay for the suit. Thankfully, shoes were included. More money saved was always nice. This was more than a deal. Maybe it was because we were kids. A deal's a deal, either way.

"You do know a suit isn't exactly what you wear for being a DJ," I said with the suit on my arm.

"Well, wear it under the clothes you're gonna wear. That is, if you don't burn up," Ulrich said.

"Yeah, I could do that. I'll do the DJing for about an hour or two. Then I'll just hang out with you guys," I said.

"You know how to dance, right?" Yumi asked.

"No," I said.

"Oh, for the love of..." Yumi said, throwing her hands up in the air.

"I haven't taken the time to learn, alright?" I said somewhat defensively.

"For Pete's sake..." Yumi said, shaking her head. "I'll teach you if I have time. Fucking hell..."

"Calm down with the judging Yumi. Jeez," I said.

"Got it. One step at a time with the music career. Just make sure you learn," Yumi said.

"You seem more invested in this than he is," Odd teased.

"Probably because she wants to continue with her plan of making Emily regret breaking up with me," I said flatly.

"But of course," Yumi said, not sounding ashamed in the slightest.

"You have got some twisted priorities, Yumes," Ulrich said, shaking his head. Yumi only grinned.

* * *

"So you have plans to do the DJing?" Jim asked.

"At least for an hour. I've written a few things that would be good for the dance," I said.

"If my nephew says you're good with music, then you're good, so I'm confident you'll be able to handle it," Jim said with a nod.

"I'll show everyone how it's done," I said with a grin.

"Hey Robert," Aelita said, walking up to me. Then she turned to Jim. "Mind if I cut in?"

"Go ahead Stones," Jim said before walking away. I looked at Aelita with a smile on my face.

"What's up?" I asked.

"Yumi. She says you do not know how to dance, and for some reason, she ended up tasking me with this objective," Aelita said with an over dramatic sigh that made me roll my eyes.

"Calm down. Since when did you learn how to dance?" I asked.

"I learned over the summer. You're not the only one who was doing music related things during that time period," Aelita said with a grin. "I'm just covering slow songs though. All people do during fast paced songs is just go crazy."

"This is true. Alright, this shouldn't take long. I'm a fairly fast learner," I said.

"That you are. The gym is already set up for the DJ, so I'm sure they won't mind if we use the music player for a few," Aelita said, drawing out a CD.

"Considering I am the DJ, I'm sure you're correct," I said, making her suddenly snap her eyes to me.

"You're DJing this dance?" she asked.

"Just for an hour or so. I'll divide it between singing and instrumentals. I'm sure I'll do a good job," I said.

"Of course you will. You're you. Just make sure I get a dance with you. I want to see if the time I'm investing into this is worth it," Aelita said.

"Oh, it will. But first..." I said, holding out a hand. Aelita smiled.

"You almost look like you know what you're doing," she said, placing the tape in the player before grabbing my hand. I put one hand on her hip and the other in one of hers. "You sure you don't know how to dance?"

"Maybe I do. Perhaps this was some deviously thought out plan for an early dance?" I said with a grin. It wasn't, really. It's way too soap opera-ish for my tastes.

"Well, it worked. At least humor me and let me guide you," Aelita said, her free hand going on my shoulder. Everyone knew to watch the feet, so it was better to position them in places where we couldn't step all over each others' toes. Once we danced for a few moments, Aelita let go of my hand and shoulder before swatting me on the shoulder.

"You ass! You do know how to dance! Why did you say you didn't?" she said.

"Well, when you've never done something before, it's safe to say that you don't know what you're doing. I mean, I'm not ignorant to some of the principles of slow dancing, but I have never tried it myself," I told her.

"Well, principles seem to be all you need to actually be able to do it formally. It was hard to tell who was leading there," Aelita said.

"Maybe you were. Maybe I was. Who knows? Considering pretty much no student besides our little group knows how to slow dance, we'll definitely make an impression. But that's for later. While I'm controlling the music, everything is going to be hype," I said cutting off the music with a smile.

"You said you were doing it for an hour, right?" Aelita asked.

"Or two. Depends on how I feel. But I won't be occupied the entire time," I said.

"Good. Cause the main reason I wanted you to come so we could all enjoy the dance together," Aelita said.

"I'm sure you'll have a fun time with Jeremy," I said evenly. I had to say it with no emotion, or I might've said it in a jealous way. I needed to find someway to deal with this.

"I would certainly hope so," Aelita said. I sighed before going for checks on the rest of the music equipment I would be using. Hell, maybe it would've be wiser to get a date.

* * *

I was already waiting on top of the stage when people started to pile into the gym. My suit was under the clothes I was wearing besides the jacket. That was laying neatly on a shelf under the table that was supporting the mixing board. I had my laptop on my left, and there was only one instrument behind me. The electric guitar that I would be using for some of these songs.

"Is everything in order?" Mr. Delmas asked.

"Yes, it is. I've done all the checks prior, so nothing should malfunction or anything of the sort," I said.

"Good. Now please, keep everything clean," he asked.

"I will," I promised with a nod. As much as I wanted to flood everyone with Disturbed, I couldn't really do that. I had to find songs proper for a dance. Songs that would make you want to dance.

 _"If you want to be a performer, you have to command the crowd. Make them focus on you and the talent that you're bringing to the table."_ It was some advice that Chris gave me and Aelita hung around after auditions. The man was really passionate about his music, and by the looks of things, he wanted me and Aelita to succeed about as much as we did ourselves. It was nice having people support you on a goal.

Once a lot of people started flooding in, I started getting everything going. A simple, tasteful instrumental was the best way to get things going. Everyone was just settling in, so I would let that play until I wanted their full and undivided attention on me and the music. Then things would get creative.

I looked up, and the sight of all my friends caught my attention. The sight of Ulrich and Yumi walking in with arms linked made me smile so wide, I could feel the corners of my mouth hurting slightly from the stress. That's one thing they happened to leave out. Coming to this dance together.

 _"Sneaky bastards,"_ I thought. I still couldn't stop smiling.

Odd was the next to walk in, and he walked in with some brunette that I didn't recognize. He had his classic goofy grin, and the girl seemed fairly happy as well. Out of everyone in our group, Odd was the person who had the least trouble getting a date.

William walked right out, and he seemed satisfied coming to the dance alone. His eyes were on Ulrich and Yumi, but beyond the slight bit of envy, there was understanding there. I knew the look well.

Speaking of envy, Jeremy was the next to walk out with Aelita. I'm glad I had the music playing, because my eyes were transfixed where she was standing. She wasn't wearing pink. She was wearing a type of dark blue dress, and it looked really good on her.

I tore my eyes away and looked at Jeremy. And as much as I wish I was standing there instead of him, I couldn't help but smile. I mean, Jeremy was smiling pretty wide and even though Aelita's smile was a little less wide, it was still radiant. This is more of what I wanted to see when I was still dating Emily. Now it was more of a bittersweet image.

 _"Call it a wakeup call,"_ I thought to myself as I changed the track, given that it had just ended. But I had to forget about them for now. I have music to handle. And I was gonna do that. So I put on a wide smile as I addressed the crowd, grabbing the microphone that was next to me.

"Soon I have a show coming up, but how about I show Kadic how I do things with music?!" I exclaimed, making the crowd cheer and clap. I smiled before stepping back with the mic in my hand to play the song. For this, I was not playing a single instrument.

 _Let's groove tonight_

 _Share the spice of life_  
 _Baby slice it right_  
 _We gonna groove tonight_

 _Let this groove get you to move,_  
 _It's alright, alright, alright_  
 _Let this groove set in your shoes,_  
 _So stand up, alright, alright_

 _Gonna tell you what you can do_  
 _With my love, alright_  
 _Let you know girl you're looking good_  
 _You're out of sight, alright_

 _Just move yourself and glide like a 747_  
 _And lose yourself in the sky_  
 _Among the clouds in the heavens_

 _Let this groove light up your fuse_  
 _It's alright, alright, alright_  
 _Let this groove set in your shoes_  
 _So stand up, alright, alright_

 _Let me tell you what you can do_  
 _With my love, alright_

 _Gotta let you know girl you're looking good_  
 _You're out of sight, alright_

 _Just tell the DJ to play your favorite tune_  
 _Then you know it's okay_  
 _What you found is happening now_

 _Let this groove light up your fuse_  
 _It's alright, alright, alright_  
 _Let this groove set in your shoes_  
 _So stand up, alright, alright_

 _Let this groove get you to move_  
 _It's alright, alright, alright_  
 _Let this groove set in your shoes_  
 _So stand up, alright, alright_

 _You will find peace of mind on the floor_  
 _Take a little time, come and see, you and me_  
 _Give a little sign, I'll be there after a while_  
 _If you want my love_

 _We can boogie on down_  
 _Down, we boogie on down_  
 _Down, we boogie on down_  
 _Down, we boogie on down_  
 _On down_

 _Let's groove tonight_  
 _Share the spice of life_  
 _Baby slice it right_  
 _We're gonna groove tonight_

 _Let this groove light up your fuse_  
 _It's alright, alright, alright_  
 _Let this groove set in your shoes_  
 _So stand up, alright, alright_

 _Let this groove light up your fuse_  
 _It's alright, alright_  
 _Let this groove set in your shoes_  
 _So stand up alright, alright_

 _Let this groove get you to move_  
 _It's alright, alright, alright_  
 _Let this groove set in your shoes_  
 _So stand up, alright, alright_

 _Let this groove get you to move_  
 _It's alright, alright, alright_  
 _Let this groove set in your shoes_  
 _So stand up, alright, alright_

 _Let this groove light up your fuse_  
 _It's alright, alright_  
 _Let this groove set in your shoes_  
 _So stand up alright, alright_

I doubt anyone could complain about Earth, Wind, and Fire playing. The sound coming from the crowd definitely confirmed that they were doing anything but complaining.

From there on, I just kept my head in the game. I was playing everything from simple instrumentals like Bullseye by KDrew to Guns N Roses, Bees Gees, AC/DC. I was beyond thirsty, but I still felt like I could go on for hours more. The more songs I started to pull off, the more I felt like that I should be doing this for the rest of my life. I wasn't holding out hope that I could create a song of my own, much less a song that could even compare to the ones I was singing, but this was fun. It was beyond fun.

"Whew. I think I'll stop it there. I think I'll let the DJ they hired actually earn the money he's being paid now," I said with a grin as I put the mic back where it was supposed to be. I took my laptop, which was connected to the speakers to play the songs, and set it to the side. I took off the jacket and pants I was wearing to reveal my suit. I was already wearing the dress shoes, so I was ready to go as soon as I put the jacket on before walking to the gym exit to go put these clothes and my guitar back in my room.

"I can take that back for you," a girl offered with a wide smile. I gave her a small smile before shaking my head.

"No thank you, darling. Thanks for the offer though," I said, giving her a two fingered salute before heading out of the gym.

 _"So at the very least, just about the entire school population at Kadic knows what to expect from me at the very least when it comes to the performance later down the line. I intend to hold myself to that standard,"_ I thought as I put my stuff back and started heading back to the dance.

"To think I risked burning up under all that clothing for nothing considering I'm walking back to my dorm to this stuff back anyway," I thought with a shake of my head. Music, I do alright on. Logical thinking? Not so much.

When I opened the door, I heard a surprised exclaim, which made me peek my head out on the side. It was Aelita, who I nearly hit with the door.

"Oh, my bad," I apologized.

"Warn a girl next time," she said with a grin before looking at me up and down. I did not know what to make of that. "Thought you were trying to slip out early."

"You think I'm going to wear this suit for an hour and a half and not get some actual use out of it? No ma'am," I said with a grin.

"Thought I was going to have to pull you by the teeth to make you come back. I apologize for underestimating your laziness," Aelita said, making me roll my eyes.

"It's not laziness. It's called being efficient. But in any case, you have a date to get back to, don't you?" I asked.

"A date that really does not like to dance," Aelita said.

"You should've figured that. You might've gotten Jeremy to come, but never under any circumstances will you get him to dance," I said as we began to walk back.

"Should've figured that. I told him it's no big deal how he dances as long as he's having fun," Aelita said.

"How'd I end up being your relationship counselor?" I asked. I really didn't want to have this task. I think out of everyone else in the world, no one would want this task less than I do.

"It's not a relationship. At least, not in this current state," Aelita said.

I could've gone about that sentence in two ways. The understanding friend in me would've told her to just keep at it and her patience would pay off. The second part of me, which was the part of me that wanted to be escorting her to this dance wanted me to say nothing. The second part won out, so it left a kind of weird silence.

"Now get back to your date. I'll find one of the others to preoccupy my time," I told her.

"If I get tired of just sitting down and talking with Jeremy, with or without consent, I'm dragging you onto that dance floor. Just a fair warning," Aelita said before walking away. I chuckled before stuffing my hands in my pockets. Then I was approached by a pleasant image of Sissi. The surprise was that the image was pleasant.

"Well, you actually look pretty good," I said.

"I'm shocked you're actually giving me a compliment," Sissi said dryly before shaking her head. "I even sound like you now. How do you even do things like this?"

"It's a gift," I said with a grin. "I must say, the dress does like nice on you." It wasn't a lie. It was white and gold, and it did look good on her. Her better-than-everyone attitude seemed to have left the building for the night, so she actually wasn't that bad to talk to.

"Thanks. You clean up nicely yourself. Nice music, by the way. I can see why Chris chose you," Sissi complimented. That made me smile.

"Now I like you so much better when you actually talk to me on even grounds. Act like this every day, and we all can get along more than fine, really," I told her.

"I'm trying to put everything aside for at least one night. It's... surprisingly easy," Sissi said, making me grin wider.

"Ah, you see? That kinda of attitude will take you places. Good places," I said with a nod before gesturing to the dance floor.

"I'm up for a dance if you are. That is, if my sort of contact is allowed," Sissi said, again, with a dry tone. I grinned at the tone. I was getting everyone with those dry tones.

"If you showered before you got ready, which I'm fairly confident you did, I have no problem with platonic contact. But isn't there someone you'd rather dance with?" I asked.

"No. Two reasons. One, you're more than likely the best dancer here. And two, Herb's watching," Sissi said with a casual point. I looked that way out of the corner out of my eye, and indeed, he was sitting there. I didn't even need to be close to him to tell his eyes were narrowed.

"You know?" I asked, making Sissi roll her eyes.

"Of course I know. He doesn't exactly hide it. But this will probably make him get the hint," Sissi said, making me raise an eyebrow with a teasing grin.

"And what makes you think I want to help with that?" I asked, making her roll her eyes.

"Oh, please. like you don't want to get him back for what he did with you and Emily," she said.

"Why is it that every girl I remotely know can read me like a book?" I questioned aloud, making her laugh.

"It's not that hard, to be honest. At least when it comes to payback," Sissi said, making me grin.

"Ok, I'll give you that," I said right as a new song began to play. I then grabbed her arm and moved her onto the dance floor.

"Would you slow down?" Sissi said.

"I don't do slow," I said before stopping a spot. The Subdigitals' song _World With My Eyes_ was playing and we stayed relatively close while dancing to the song.

 _The landscape's full of wondrous charm_  
 _In this dangerous universe_  
 _Each time attracted by the calm_  
 _We are blinded by its beauty_

 _We are flying away_  
 _Running away_  
 _Flying away_  
 _Running away_  
 _In this magnificent world_

 _Let me show you this world through my eyes_  
 _Sometimes it just looks like paradise_  
 _Here we never reach the sky_  
 _Oh how I'd love you to_  
 _See this world with my eyes_

"Someone's got some groove," I said with a grin.

"What makes you think I didn't?" Sissi asked. She sounded a little more like her overconfident self, but that smile let me know she was having fun. It was one far more genuine that I had ever seen on her face before.

 _The sea extends beyond the light_  
 _The waters sparkling like diamonds_  
 _Each time attracted by the calm_  
 _We are blinded by its beauty_

 _We are flying away_  
 _Running away_  
 _Flying away_  
 _Running away_  
 _In this magnificent world_

 _Let me show you this world through my eyes_  
 _Sometimes it just looks like paradise_  
 _Here we never reach the sky_  
 _Oh how I'd love you to..._  
 _See this world with my eyes_

 _Let me show you this world through my eyes_  
 _Sometimes it just looks like paradise_  
 _Here we never reach the sky_  
 _Oh how I'd love you to..._  
 _See this world with my eyes_

I finished off with by twirling her. She couldn't help but giggle from that, and it was a sound that I never thought I'd hear from Sissi. I think that bitchy skin was gone. Or at least mostly off. She definitely looked brighter; happier. I gave her a polite bow.

"What do you know? Lessons can be fun at times," Sissi said.

"And what lesson did you just learn?" I asked with a grin.

"Well, more or less a lesson for him," Sissi said, pointing at Herb. "I'm willing to admit it. I had fun."

"I can't believe it I'm saying it, but you too," I said with a grin. Then I felt a tap on my shoulder.

"Two seconds?" Emily asked. I looked at Sissi.

"Go for it," she said before walking off. I then looked at her.

"What is it?" I asked.

"I lied," Emily said.

"About what?" I asked calmly. She was looking nice in a black dress of her own, but my attention was more on what she had to say.

"I didn't have a date. Remember when I told you I did?" Emily asked. I paused for a second before the conversation came back to me.

"Was that some attempt to make me jealous, or..." I trailed.

"Kinda?" Emily said, making me raise an eyebrow. "You know I hate when you do that."

"That's because _you_ broke up with _me._ Under no circumstances should you try to pull anything like that," I said, my voice fighting to stay even. And here I was thinking I closed the page on this chapter of my life.

"Because I didn't trust you. I didn't believe you when you said you were being faithful. But you haven't come out and said that you're dating her. Are you hiding from Jeremy?" Emily asked.

"If I call someone my girlfriend, I am willing to tell the world. I don't care who knows or doesn't know. Whether they're my friend or some idiot looking to try and make a move on her," I said, my voice coming out in a growl. "I told you I wasn't dating Aelita. I told you. And did you believe me? No." I then took a deep breath and calmed myself down. Now was not the time to get emotional about this.

"I am sorry. I am sorry for entering a relationship with you. I am sorry because I knew I had priorities and I couldn't put you over them. It was doomed to fail at that point. We've gone over this before, but I will not let you accuse me of something..."

Quick reflexes were able to make me raise a hand in time to stop her from kissing me. Oh, boy. This is not what I needed tonight. Things were actually going fairly well. Now all of a suddenly, Emily has a change of heart as far as where we stand.

"Don't do that," I said. My voice was calm, but firm.

"I'm an idiot," Emily said in frustration.

"Not an idiot. If anything, I'd say you may have made the right decision," I said evenly. "But what's the deal? You seemed satisfied getting away from me. And I doubt you acted like this when you and Odd dated."

"Odd may be funny, but he has a severe lack of sensitivity in general sometimes. It's not intentional. At least I don't think so. And Odd doesn't say things because it's what I _should_ hear, not because I _want_ to hear it," Emily said.

"He's definitely got his faults," I said simply.

"I'm not finished yet. Forget Odd for a second. I recall no one ever complimenting me ever to the point where my heart goes faster. When you look back on these things; things you never paid attention to... you realize just how much you made me react. Certain emotions, feelings, sensations," Emily said before moving close to me and putting a hand on my cheek. The look in her eyes was sincere. I sighed.

"You broke up with me on the last day of July, I believe," I started while maintaining eye contact. "Before that day, I believe the closest I had ever come to crying before then was when my grandmother died. That's because I hardly get emotionally attached to people. You and all the people I call my best friends were exceptions that weren't family. I don't think you realize how much that hurt me. It didn't hurt my pride. It didn't hurt my ego. It hurt because I lost you. Period. I didn't love you, but I _did_ care for you."

 _"But_ I got over it. I moved on with my life. I closed the book on this chapter in my life, and that's exactly how it shall remain. A thing of the past," I said, taking her hand off my face. "Now I must respectfully ask for you to do the same. I cannot give you what you need."

"You are what I need," Emily asked. I laughed hollowly.

"Hardly. I am what you _want._ God forbid why after I bailed on you so many times. But what you want and what you need are two entirely different things. Besides, this we're barely in the high school stage. You really think you won't find someone better suited for you than me?" I questioned. I was fearing my life was turning into a soap opera. A really weird one with dimensional travel and homicidal AI.

 _"No one_ is like you," Emily said.

"No two people are ever the same. That's a fact of life. There are similarities, but no one is ever the exact same. There _is_ someone better for you than me. And you'll find them. And as for me..." The image of Aelita crossed my mind and I laughed humorlessly before shaking my head at the ground at the irony of the situation I was in now. "...well, I may be hopeless until I can finally move on with my life."

"Maybe you're right," Emily said.

"I definitely feel like I am. I'm going to let you know this now. I already like someone else," I told her, making her look up at me. Her eyes looked around for a moment before stopping. I looked where she was looking, which was Aelita staring at us. I gave her the sign for one moment before turning back to Emily.

"Honestly, I am not surprised," Emily said, smiling sadly.

"It kinda snuck up on me, to be honest. But I do like her. A lot," I said in a soft tone. Almost wistful.

"As much as I hate to admit it, you two are a fit for each other. At the very least, make sure you tell her," Emily told me before walking away. I sighed while stuffing my hands in my pockets. To be honest, I couldn't make that promise to myself, let alone someone else. I was having fun a few minutes ago. Now I felt like bashing my head against the wall.

"What was that all about?" Ulrich asked, walking up to me.

"Just clearing the air. Don't you have a Japanese beauty to attend to?" I said with a grin, making him blush a little. But then he grinned.

"I do. See you later?" Ulrich asked.

"Definitely," I said, giving him a two fingered salute as he walked back to Yumi. I then took a seat before closing my eyes to relax. Felt good to sit down for the first time in the past few hours. At least I was able to clear my head a little.

"Ah, us dateless men," William said, grabbing a seat next to me.

"You could've grabbed a date. Why didn't you?" I asked.

"Because the one person I really wanted to go with is already going with something else. Those two have been smiling so much, I'm surprised their faces haven't cracked," William said, gesturing to a dancing Yumi and Ulrich. He wasn't lying. They were still smiling.

"They are really happy with each other. I'm happy to see them that way," I said with a soft smile.

"Why aren't they dating yet? It would at least give me closure on the situation," William said.

"Yumi's got her reasons. I won't say what they are. It's her business to tell," I told him, making him sigh.

"Nothing to do but move on, huh?" William said.

"Right you are. It'll be hard, but you can do it," I told him.

"So, what was all that with Emily?" William asked with a point.

"She wanted to get back together. I said no," I said evenly.

"Why's that? I thought you would've wanted to get back together with her. I remember you nearly tore my head off when you thought I kissed her," William said.

"For the record, I knew XANA was up to stuff during that, so I was never going to hurt you. The threat was just to make you leave. But to be honest, that ship sailed when we broke up the first time. Just going back into again with nothing changing. Besides, I'm not going down that road again. I let her go, and I'm not going through the whole emotional process of trying to make it work again," I explained. They were all true, but they were nonexistent compared to the _real_ reason I wasn't going back into a relationship with her. And I was probably stupid for doing so.

"I can understand that. But, then again..."

"Mind if I steal him for a moment?" Aelita asked William. Without even waiting for a response, she grabbed my arm for me to follow her. I willingly let myself be dragged.

"I demand to know my rights!" I said with a grin.

"Here are your rights: You dance, you get your freedom. Sound like a plan?" Aelita asked.

"Very much so," I said before I grasped her hand. There was that guilty little flutter again.

 _Take you far away_  
 _It's a funny thing to say_  
 _When I've never held your small hand_  
 _Ride along with you_  
 _It'd be a funny thing to do_  
 _Then I'll wake up, you'll be there too_

 _But there's no time now_  
 _To explain oh no_  
 _I been sent on a mission_  
 _Cause I got a vision right now_

 _Little angel, beaming down your smile_  
 _Little angel, could it be a sign_  
 _Little angel, you're my beauty queen_  
 _Can you break the code,_  
 _and get us outta here_

 _Little angel trapped inside this dream_  
 _Little angel you're my precious thing_  
 _Little angel keep me from this pain_  
 _Can you come to earth, before I go insane_

 _Angel of mine, Angel of mine, Angel of mine_

All Subdigitals songs were ways of telling stories of all the Lyoko Warriors, beyond our regular lives. I know this was meant to be taken more from Jeremy's perspective before Aelita was materialized back to the real world, but... it felt too good dancing like this to this song. With her. There was some strange sort of... relief to it. Some sort of comfort.

 _In the corner of my eye_  
 _You are shining way up high_  
 _Your reflection makes me feel weak_  
 _Trying oh so hard_  
 _To keep this memory apart_  
 _Then I'll wake up, and you'll be free_

 _But there's no time now_  
 _To explain oh no_  
 _been sent on a mission_  
 _Cause I got a vision right now_

 _Little angel, beaming down your smile_  
 _Little angel, could it be a sign_  
 _Little angel, you're my beauty queen_  
 _Can you break the code,_  
 _and get us outta here_

 _Little angel trapped inside this dream_  
 _Little angel you're my precious thing_  
 _Little angel keep me from this pain_  
 _Can you come to earth, before I go insane_

 _Angel of mine, Angel of mine_

 _Angel of mine, mine, mine_  
 _Oh, little angel!_  
 _Angel of mine!_  
 _Angel of mine!_  
 _Angel of mine, mine, mine_  
 _Oh, little angel!_  
 _Angel of mine!_  
 _Angel of mine!_  
 _Angel of mine!_  
 _Oh, little angel._

The song stopped, but I did not want to let go. No way, no how. I looked down at her considering she was a few inches shorter than me, and smiled at her. She returned the smile.

"It's fun dancing with someone who's good at it," Aelita said, putting her hands down.

"Likewise," I said, the idea of saying something about Jeremy not even crossing my mind. I know it was a bit wrong considering she was here as his escort, not mine, but... I had no excuse. Sue me. I'm not a saint.

"So what'd Emily want?" Aelita asked as another song started up. But we were just standing here talking.

"She wanted to get back together," I said plainly.

"'Wanted.' Does that mean you said no?" Aelita asked.

"Yeah. I'm done with that chapter on my life. I prefer to focus on the here and now," I said before putting my hands on her shoulders.

 _"Just kiss her. Don't chicken out. Just go for it,"_ I thought to myself.

"Excuse me, mind if I borrow him for a moment?" someone said, making me remove my hands immediately. I bit my tongue hard to prevent myself from yelling. Not out of fear, but out of pure frustration. I didn't know whether it was a good thing or bad thing that she interrupted. It was some random girl I didn't even know too.

"I was about to head to my dorm anyhow. Long show, and um... I'm getting kinda of tired. Night Aelita," I said, waving awkwardly before walking out as fast as I could. As soon as I was clear of anyone's sight, I started slapping my forehead rapidly with all the force I had.

 _"Stupid, stupid! You idiot! You goddamned idiot! What on earth are you thinking?"_ I thought furiously, still slapping myself on the forehead. _"Way to risk everything with Aelita cause you wanted to 'go for it.' That's not how it works!"_

"Did you screw up?" Herb asked, suddenly walking in front of me.

"I am not in the mood for this right now. I'm going to ask you now. Move or I will drop you harder than the Hiroshima bomb," I said with a growl. Herb flinched, but his eyes hardened as he stood his ground. This made me raise an eyebrow. Let's see what he had to say.

"Who do you think you are?" he asked. So far, a weak starter.

"I'm me. I thought that would be obvious," I said, crossing my arms.

"You have some nerve. You go around treat Sissi like trash and then have the nerve to dance with her," Herb said, his tone sounding angry. I would've laughed if I wasn't dealing with my own case of envy. Though I could at least say I kept mine well contained.

"I do not treat her like trash. I call her out on her bullshit, which is something you should do more often. When she insists on acting like a bitch, I really show her how much of a bitch I can be. But at least she's learning from her mistakes. That's why I do things like that. You do whatever she asks, and I'm brutal with her. In honesty and in insults. And she _still_ prefers to dance with me," I said, raising a finger like I had just realized something. "Ooh. That must hurt, doesn't it?"

"You're doing this to get back at me for what I did with Emily, didn't you?" Herb asked.

"That's definitely part of it. To be honest, she's not a bad dancer herself. But hey. You may have just sped up the inevitable. At the rate I was going, we probably would've broken up later down the line, and it might have been more damaging. But at least we are still friends. We can enjoy each others' company. So in a way, I suppose I have to thank you. But on the other hand, I still want to beat the snot out of your for sticking your nose where it doesn't belong. But I'm man enough to leave it alone. Now you be man enough to actually grow a fucking spine for yourself," I explained, looking at him critically before walking away.

I rubbed my throbbing temples when I entered my room before hanging up the suit and just slipping on some night clothes as I lied down. I smacked my pillow unnecessarily hard before closing my eyes.

* * *

A/N: All this drama though. This was a random chapter that popped in my head at one point, so I decided to go ahead and do it. There aren't going to be that many canon related chapters left. At that point, the rest of it will be pure stuff that comes from my head. There are only eight episodes left that I want to do, so the rest of that will just be a bunch relationship drama shit. That's always fun.


	45. Chapter 45 - A Winter Break to Remember

Chapter References: Distant Memory

* * *

"Christmas Eve, and we're the only two without family," I said, playing my guitar in a type of relaxing tune.

"Well, thank you for gracing the room with that depressing thought," Aelita said, putting a hand on Kiwi's stomach and scratching it.

"Still, at least we have each other for the holidays," I said, putting my guitar to the side. Aelita was relaxing on her bed, and I was propped up on the closet in front of it.

"Still, it's not quite the same," Aelita said sadly.

"I know," I said solemnly before going back to my guitar playing.

"You never told me about your family," Aelita said.

"Cause I don't like talking about them. But I will say that one difference is that you were raised by both your parents before Lyoko happened. I was raised by mostly my mother. My dad was around for what, all of four years? Plus a couple of months when he came back. He was still there before I disappeared to to this dimension, and he's there to see me unconscious on a table," I explained, adjusting my guitar. "Believe me, as much as I want them to be, my family is not perfect."

"Why'd your father leave?" Aelita asked.

"I really don't want to talk about this," I said, shaking my head.

"Talking things makes me feel better. I'm sure it'll do the same for you," Aelita said. I sighed before putting my guitar next to me.

"He cheated. The greatest enemy of any man is the inability to control their libido, and my dad certainly couldn't control his back then. So my mom took me and my sister down to Little Rock. We were staying in Pine Bluff at the time. From that point, I got a phone call every Christmas from that point. That was about it. And back then I was too young to even comprehend what was going. Why we were moving. Why I never saw my dad again for years. It's alright though. That fact of life has been thoroughly settled," I finished before grabbing my guitar again.

"That's... really sad," Aelita said, her tone showing it.

"That's life. We have people who lie, cheat, steal, and do all sorts of things. It ruins families and sometimes lives in general. It's why being here is like a fresh of air for me. Aside from XANA, the only person who really has anything that could remotely count as malicious intent was Sissi, and that just ran on petty schemes. Generally, everyone is pretty nice, and it's not always the case where I'm from," I said before standing up. "I'm going for a bite to eat. You coming with?"

"How do you not let that bother you?" Aelita asked.

"Well, I accept it, which is the first step to getting over it and moving on. It's a subject I prefer to stay off of, but I can talk about it pretty casually. Cause the issues with my family does not dictate the kind of person I am. I am the master of my own destiny. I'll just grab you that bacon burger you enjoy so much," I said, starting to head towards the door.

"I'll come with. Who knows, I may want to try something new," Aelita said.

"Doesn't hurt to do that," I said evenly.

I've been doing my best to keep our conversations away from the joking side of things since the dance. That just stirs up my feelings again. Of attraction and guilt both. I really shouldn't have even tried to kiss her at the dance, but... hell, I would've at least had an answer. Whether she said yes and no. Now I'm just even more wound up.

"So... what'd you get me?" Aelita asked idly. I couldn't help but grin.

"Ah, but that would spoil the surprise, wouldn't it?" I asked.

"Doesn't hurt to ask. I'm sure it's good," Aelita said.

"It is. I spent some of my summer job money on your presents, so if you don't like them, I will kill all of you and give your bodies to XANA as a peace offering," I said with a straight face.

"Well, I hope you at least do it nicely. In our sleep so we don't have to feel it," Aelita said, making me laugh loudly as we walked out of the dorm.

"That was gritty. I love it," I said with a grin. So much for keeping everything out of the joking spectrum. Who was I kidding? Like I was going to succeed. Look at who I was talking to.

"That's a strange thing to love. I'd prefer to say that I love things like my friends or candy. But that's just me," Aelita said.

"Hey I do love all of you. I just happen to love petty murder too," I said in the most casual tone ever.

"That's very... Sissi-ish of you," Aelita said, making me shake my head.

"Hey, she's getting better," I said. It was a true statement. She was getting better about keeping her mouth shut. She was even being... slightly nice. That was the real shocker.

"Yes, to be fair to her, she is getting better. But she hasn't completely shed her bitchy skin yet, as you put it," Aelita said.

"Perhaps she shall over the break. But we're not focusing on that. For now, we're grabbing something to eat," I said, opening the door for her.

"As gentlemanly as ever," she said with a grin as she walked in the shop. It was amazing that there was no snow even though we were near the end of December. In France. It kind of made you want to laugh at the absurdity of it all.

"You wanna head back to the dorm after we pick this food up?" I asked.

"Yeah. Suppose we could practice a little more. Or do you want to do something else?" Aelita asked.

"I don't think we can get any better than we already have singing _Courtesy Call._ I actually want to teach you how to fight," I said, making her stop.

"Not how I expected to spend part of my vacation," Aelita said flatly.

"To be honest, I've been long overdue for that. I mean, while you not be able to handle XANA fully, you would at least be able to contend with him a little bit. Plus it doesn't help to have some asskicking skills for other situations," I told her.

"Could you really imagine me doing flips and kicks?" Aelita asked in a joking tone.

"I can. Everyone's capable of it. And I believe you are nothing if not capable if you want to do something," I said seriously. This made her smile.

"Well, at least there's faith there," Aelita said.

* * *

"Alright, now when you're fighting, there's no need for a stupid stance or anything. It's mostly just to look cool. When you're fighting, you mainly just want to get yourself in a stable position," I said, standing regularly with my hands out. Aelita did the same.

"This is so weird," she said.

"You'll get used to it. Now, how fast are your reflexes?" I asked.

"Good. After all this business with XANA, I at least have good reflexes," Aelita said.

"Alright. Reflexes are, obviously, how you react to being attacked properly. Strength does not matter if you know how to deflect. In that situation, you use your opponent's strength in their attack against them. So when I take a swing like this..." I said, easing my hand in front of her face. "...you put your arm under my wrist and swiftly move my hand out of the way. Try it."

I then threw my fist past her head. Not as fast as I could, but at a decent speed. She did what I said, and moved my hand to the side. We went back and forth with this a few times.

"Now the goal is to basically do that while I'm being attacked," Aelita said.

"Basically. Then you counterattack by aiming at pressure points. Strength does make it easier, but everyone has the strength to do enough damage to that point to where it hurts," I told her.

"Can you help me find a stance though?" Aelita asked.

"It's better to find that stance yourself. Find a stable position," I said with my arms crossed.

"Just show me," Aelita said.

"Alright. Personally, when I'm in the middle of combat, I prefer to keep my shoulders locked and my feet firmly on the ground. Your hands can go anywhere as long as you find your balance," I said, showing her my typical combat position.

"Like this?" Aelita asked.

"No. Shoulders are too loose. Tighten in your elbow more like this..." I trailed, adjusting her arms so that her shoulders were more tightly locked.

"Goodness, that's kind of awkward," Aelita said, straightening herself up.

"It's not that bad once you get used to it. But again, my position may not be for you. A loose stance tends to make me less prepared for being hit, but they also help with reflexes; makes me more aware when I'm not as stiff. But after a while, I learned to ignore that particular difference so I could take blows and still be fast," I said, rotating my shoulders.

"Now if I were to ever throw a blow, how would I do it while in this position?" Aelita asked.

"I wouldn't recommend throwing a blow against XANA unless you have the speed to match. Use your reflexes to defend yourself until you can counterattack. It takes training to contend with XANA. Trust me. Now as for throwing punches against a regular sucker..." I said flatly, making her giggle. Then, fighting back the urge to flush, I put my hands under her elbows and directed her hands. "...this is how you throw blows. Throw them regularly. Don't go out too far. Keep your shoulders locked within range, and draw your punches back quick to protect your body when you're being attacked."

"So... like this?" Aelita asked, backing into me and throwing the punches. I almost completely let her go. Apple shampoo again. Fucking shit. It didn't help that this felt warm

"Uh... yeah. I think you got it. Practice it a little more," I said, backing up immediately.

"Ok. Thanks," Aelita said brightly before going to grab her phone. I looked to the ceiling.

 _"God, give me strength. Help me,"_ I thought with all of the sincerity I had. The thoughts I was having now was more than impure.

"I missed a call from Yumi," Aelita said when I walked back over to her. I cleared my throat, and I suddenly wish I had a pipe to beat myself into unconsciousness. Just so I wouldn't keep smelling apple that suddenly felt like it was an additive.

"She leave a message?" I said, managing to make my voice even.

"No. Just called. Though I do want to check for any towers before we do anything else," Aelita said.

"Agreed," I said with a nod.

"And also, thank you," Aelita said.

"To be honest, I am _way_ overdue on teaching you how to fight. I should've done this before," I told her.

"Not just that. The dance. It was fun to actually be able to put my dancing skills to the test," Aelita said, doing a little twirl.

"Well, you're welcome for that too," I said with a nod before I heard a wooshing sound behind me. Without even thinking, I grabbed Aelita and moved her to the side. Just in time to dodge the lightning.

"Ok, change of plans. Activate a tower, create a specter to distract XANA, call Yumi, and we can deactivate the tower," I told her.

"Keep him busy. Don't get stabbed again," Aelita said. I put on my gloves before whipping out two blades from the holsters I had under my pants legs. "Whoa! When did you get those things?"

"Oh, you're surprised what adults will sell you if you just say your parents told you to get them. In this case, I just came up with the fact that my dad and I were going on a hunting trip," I said, twirling the knives while they were armed under my face. "Get going. Call Yumi to help you."

I immediately ducked the attack of XANA's specter, which had the image of Aelita's dad. Then I remembered exactly what XANA had planned.

"You're so lucky you don't have an actual mortal form. I'd kill you where you stand," I said, flicking his cheek. His response to that was to shoot lightning at me, but I moved to the side and impaled his hands to the ground before kicking him in the face. I couldn't kick hard enough to to jerk the knives through his hands. That would've taken supernatural strength. But his head did fly back from the impact before he turned intangible and simply moved his hands from under them. The wounds healed instantly.

"So that doesn't work," I said, spinning the knives as I picked them back up. This time he made his hands swords again, making me crack my neck. "Rematch. Let's go."

From here on out, it was a sword on knife fight. Considering the length of the swords, I had to put extra effort into my blocks to avoid getting skewered.

After a little while, he changed one of his sword hands back to a normal one and shot a bolt of lightning at me. I used my knife to keep the electricity off my person, but the force of it was dragging me back even though I had my heels dug into the ground.

Aiming quick, I tossed the second knife at his forehead, making him have to halt the lightning flow and turn intangible to dodge it. As soon as he was tangible again, I jumped up and hit him with a flying kick that knocked him flat on his ass. Before he could make another move, I was already moving fast in his direction and hit him with a dropkick into the wall. That knocked him out cold.

"That was fun," I said, putting my knives back in my holsters. I then turned on the spot before heading out of the gym and calling Aelita.

"He's out cold for now, but I don't know for how long," I told her.

 _"Just get to the factory as fast as you can. I'm almost there, and I'll send a specter to keep XANA busy,"_ Aelita said.

"You think the others know what happened?" I asked.

 _"I hope not. Odd's almost on a plane out of here, and Ulrich as well as Jeremy are on their way to their families' places. At least William's already taken his flight. We can handle this ourselves,"_ Aelita said.

"Let's just hope we actually can," I said.

 _"We can and will,"_ Aelita said firmly. _"Just get here. I'll wait for you."_ I hung up the phone before immediately breaking out into a run towards the factory.

On the way there, I immediately noticed that Yumi and Jeremy were talking in the middle of the forest. Guess they did end up finding out that XANA decided to stir up trouble.

"I assume you found out everyone's favorite AI decided to launch an attack?" I asked, making them turn around to face me.

"Yeah, Aelita called me about it. What happened here?" Yumi asked.

"He sent a specter of Aelita's dad to attack us. Sort of a play of what he was planning in the first place, but again, my simple presence changes things," I said before gesturing towards the forest. "Aelita's almost at the factory already and she's gonna create a specter to keep XANA busy."

"Then in any case, we need to get there immediately. Ulrich and Odd should already be on their way as well," Jeremy said.

"So much for a relaxing vacation, huh?" I questioned.

"Relaxing? What's that?" Yumi said dryly.

The three of us all went to the factory, and Aelita was simply spinning in the chair. She stopped upon seeing us standing in the elevator.

"Specter's already out, watching over XANA. You should've stayed at home. The three of us could've handled this. You hardly ever see your family," Aelita told Jeremy.

"The unfortunate fact is that until XANA is over, he's the priority. So get to the scanners. I'll transfer the three of you to Lyoko," Jeremy said. I nodded before we all walked towards the scanners to get transferred.

As I was about to land, I had to quickly shift my body to avoid getting blasted while I was in midair. I immediately drew my lightsabers before impaling the tarantula that was below me before jumping back.

"Hey Jeremy? I appreciate not having to make the trip, but maybe you could try transferring us just a tiny bit further away?" I said.

"Seriously. We were directly under them," Yumi said.

 _"Sorry about that. I'm trying to get these transfers to a more accurate state,"_ Jeremy said.

"Just a tiny bit off Jeremy," Aelita said before raising both of her hands and obliterating the remaining two tarantulas with energy blasts. "Well, that was easy. You can take this tower, if you want."

"Thought you liked to do them," I said.

"Call it the insecurities of an old girl," Aelita said with a smile. I returned the smile before heading towards the tower.

 _"I have to say, I'm liking this more confident Aelita,"_ I thought as I walked in the tower.

* * *

"So catch us up here," Odd asked.

"Originally, XANA pretends to be Aelita's dad and gets her into a type of digital simulation so he could throw her into the digital sea to lure out Franz and kill him. But since yours truly was here, she never saw the message on her computer and he never got the chance," I explained.

"Another plus to you being here, huh?" Aelita said with a smile.

"I have my uses," I said with a smile.

"Hey, since we're already here, how about we give each other our presents?" Odd asked, standing up.

"Thought we were waiting after vacation?" I questioned.

"Yeah, but I decided to say screw it," Odd said, handing off presents to each person. "But Einstein number two here has to go get his since he didn't let me store them."

"Odd, it may be almost Christmas, but I do not trust you not to peek at what I got you," I said, standing up.

"He's not wrong," I heard Odd said when I closed the door. I grinned.

"Make way," I said, opening the door with one hand and the other carrying the presents.

"Don't expect too much from Odd," Jeremy said, holding up a rubber duck. I laughed as I set my gifts down next to me.

"These are for you," Aelita said, passing me my gifts.

"Thank you. As for you all, Odd... Jeremy... Aelita..." I said, passing them each of their presents in turn.

"What about us?" Ulrich asked, pointing to him and Yumi.

"Oh, don't worry. I'll get to you two in a sec," I assured them as I started with Odd's gift. It was a box of cheese danishes.

"Odd?" I questioned.

"Yeah?" he asked.

"I think may have been wrong when I said you don't pay attention all that much. I think I've brought these up once, and you got me an entire box of em. Where I lived, cheese danishes weren't very easy to be come by," I said, opening one and taking a bite. The blissful taste made me groan, and I more than likely had the orgasm face to go along with it. I did not care.

"You look happy," Jeremy said in an amused tone.

"I'm very happy. These things are delicious. This is a great gift. Even though I'm likely gonna eat the entire box tonight," I said with a grin.

"Slow your roll Jethro," Aelita said while grinning.

"If I wasn't here, I would've suspected you were doing something a little more naughty," Odd said with a smirk. Everyone laughed when I smacked him on the arm in a joking manner. But I definitely did set myself up for that joke.

"Oh, my goodness..." I heard Aelita trail, making me grin. I think she opened my gift.

"Like it?" I asked as I went to Ulrich's gift. Then all of a sudden, I had a gold necklace in my face. The face of the person holding it gave me a serious stare.

"It's beautiful. Very much so," Aelita said, the serious stare fading off into a warm grin. I don't know how I got into the logic that two hundred and fifty bucks spent was worth one smile, but it was.

"Unless I'm mistaken, that's a real emerald in the center," Ulrich said, moving closer to Aelita to look at it properly.

"Really?" Jeremy asked, his eyes snapping to me. I could make eye contact with a homicidal AI fully prepared to kill me, but I couldn't make eye contact with Jeremy in that moment.

"How can you tell?" Yumi asked.

"My mom has a bracelet with a emerald that looks just like that. And I know for a fact my dad doesn't spare expenses," Ulrich said.

"Yeah. Fake gems don't shine like that. That's a real emerald," Yumi said, looking at it. Aelita looked at me, her eyes wider than usual.

"A _real_ emerald? I would've been satisfied with a fake one. A real one?" she asked, her tone somewhat hoarse.

"Why not, right?" I said with a shrug.

"Why not? Your response to spend what more than likely cost you several hundred dollars is 'why not?'" Aelita questioned. "What planet do you live on?"

"An interesting one. With amazing friends and homicidal AIs," I said casually.

"You... are... unbelievable," Aelita said.

"I know," I said with a bright smile.

"Do you always have to outdo everyone?" Odd asked before raising his gift. "Free all you can eat buffets at Smith's Burgers for the next month. That's my favorite burger joint."

"What do you know? You two are connected through food," Ulrich joked, making everyone laugh. Though I noticed Aelita still giving me a subdued look, and Jeremy was looking her.

"As for Ulrich's present, even though the guitar was enough..." I said with a pointed look.

"Why not, right?" he mimicked, making me grin and open the case. My eyes widened when I pulled out a _friggin sword._

"You cannot be serious," I said, drawing the thing from its holster.

"Whoa," Odd said, looking at the blade as I raised it.

"This is from both me and him," Yumi said, gesturing between him and Ulrich. "I found it, he paid for it."

"Am I even allowed to have this here?" I questioned.

"Not sure, so you might wanna hide it. But it's cool to have, right?" Yumi said.

"Very much so," I said before putting it back in its holster. "It's kind of ironic because the present I got for you two is joined as well." I then drew out tickets for a marital arts show.

"I recognize those. That's for that national marital arts tournament happening in the city sometime in the next few weeks," Yumi said.

"You are correct. Multiple things come with this ticket. I got the principal to give you the time off to go to this show as long as you make up your work. And luckily for you..." I said, opening a box and pulling out several sheets. "...some teachers like to make her work in advance. So I've done that for you, you're excused for school, and you get to spend those hours enjoying people kick the crap out of each other. Sound good?"

"Odd's right. You do have to outdo everyone," Yumi said with a grin as she grabbed the tickets. "How much did all of this even cost?"

"All the money that I had saved up," I said, making everyone's eyes widen. "You're all worth it though. Speaking of which, Jeremy needs to open his present. Only present that didn't cost me a dime, luckily."

"You spent all the money you had on us?" Jeremy asked.

"You're all worth more than money to me," I said honestly.

"But still... we just spent a few dollars here and there..." Aelita trailed.

"I don't care if you got me nothing. As long as you all remain the way you do, that's all I really need," I said before pushing Jeremy's gift towards him more insistently. He looked at the gift before taking the paper off.

"You wrote the rest of your money off on a check?" Jeremy asked, raising the money.

"No. Look closer," I said. He looked at the check, and his eyes widened at the amount.

"This... This is fifty thousand dollars..." Jeremy trailed.

"That's just the first payment. Remember those touch screen designs you were working on?" I asked. A while back, I told him that we don't use keys to type on and that we just type on the screen itself. He started on designs, and I made the finishing touches.

"Yeah..." he trailed.

"Well, I mailed them to an electronics company, and they were very impressed. Because the designs, after all, work. They should call you about a career in electronics design once you graduate. Of course, that's not including the periodic wiring of money they're going to do to your parents' account. The fifty thousand is just a small portion of what those designs were worth," I explained to him.

"My dad... he didn't say anything about this..." Jeremy trailed.

"Probably wanted to surprise you. But this was mostly your work. I just took it to the right place," I said with a grin.

"In one Christmas, you've satisfied my need for my favorite food place for a month, gave Yumi and Ulrich a free day off school to go see martial arts, made Jeremy rich, and gave Aelita an expensive necklace that's worthy of the Queen of England. I'm starting to believe you're the modern Jesus," Odd said, making me laugh.

"It took months to get this together. I was just able to time it all perfectly on Christmas. Probably plot convenience," I said, idly waving a hand.

"But as far as we're concerned, we're not TV shows, and this is friggin amazing," Aelita said, lifting her necklace.

"This is amazing. The words thank you don't sum this up, so I'm just going to suggest a group hug," Yumi said, wrapping her arms around me. Soon all the others joined her, and I smiled wide. This was family right here.

"Kinda glad XANA attacked. Then this wouldn't have happened," I said as we all separated for air.

"I can definitely agree with that," Aelita said with a smile as she sat back down. I then went for Jeremy's present, which was a card and a photo frame. The photo was one we took when we were all outside of the factory, arms around each others' shoulders.

"I know it's not quite something your biological family would be able to give you, but..." Jeremy trailed before gesturing for me to read on.

"'Not having your family can be tough. But you can have every single one of our words that we'll our best to be the family and the friends that you've lost coming here. You're as important to this group as anyone here,'" I read with their signatures. At the bottom. I smiled while looking down, my eyes starting to water. Ah, forget it. Screw holding back the tears now.

"You should feel accomplished," I said with a gaspy laugh as I looked up at everyone. "Not once in my life have I cried tears of joy. Not one time." It felt wonderful in a strange way.

"First time for everything," Aelita said with a smile.

"I love all you psychopaths," I said with a watery smile.

"Isn't that the pot calling the kettle black?" Odd said with a grin. "But the feeling is definitely mutual."

"It's interesting how I came to this school initially thinking that it was just going to be like most of middle school. That I was just going to spend it by myself. Then I found the Supercomputer and met all of you, then everything changed," Jeremy said.

"If you said that I'd be helping to save the world in high school, then I would've wondered if you've been reading too many comic books," Ulrich said with a grin.

"I would've liked to think I could've been an awesome superhero," Odd said, looking up towards the ceiling with his eyes closed.

"His power is inhaling everything. Like he does with his food," I said, making everyone laugh as I wiped the tears from my face.

"And I would inhale all of crime," Odd said, striking a pose.

"That's an image right there," I said with another chuckle.

"I think the main reason why XANA will never beat us is because we all work together. There's more than teamwork here. There's friendship and actual love here. Not just programming," Aelita said.

"One thing we'll always know is that we can trust each other. And no matter what, we'll always have each others' backs," Ulrich said.

"Very true. I suppose one good thing came of XANA being created. Friendships are often made even stronger in the face of adversity," Jeremy said.

"And Lord knows we've had a lot of that. But we've overcome it every time. And we've been made stronger and better as a result," I said.

"It's exactly the kind of growth good friendships need," Jeremy said. "Also, I know you might have already had plans here, but I talked to my dad, and he's willing to let you and Aelita stay at my place."

"No plans, but that sounds far better than staying here the entire winter break," I said.

"Very much so," Aelita said.

"Yeah, he's coming here in a few minutes," Jeremy said.

"I'll go pack then," I said walking towards the door. But not before turning around to look at Aelita with a smile. "That necklace fits you really well." What I didn't mention as I walked out was that the color reminded me of her eyes when on Lyoko. Oh, boy. This was going to be a fun few weeks trying not to say or do anything stupid.

* * *

A/N: Yes, I do realize this chapter was somewhat cheesy and sappy, but hey, I'd say now was a perfect time to include it in. I had a previous idea of not covering this episode my own way, but I'm glad I did. This came out really good to me. Hope you all enjoyed it as well.

P.S: What I said about my family is in fact true. It's not something I made up for plot. I made this a self insert for a reason.


	46. Chapter 46 - Night to Remember

Episode references: Music to Soothe the Savage Beast

* * *

"Opening night baby," I said, taking a sip form the drink in my hand.

"How are you not scared about this?" Aelita asked.

"I'm masking what little fear I have with bravado," I said before putting a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "But we'll be fine. We're talented."

"According to others, you very much are. Listen to this," Yumi said, referring to an article in her hands. "'In our next issue, an exclusive issue with Robert Morgan an Aelita Stones, Kadic's Brightest New Stars.' Either of you know about this?"

"Yeah, Milly and Tamiya didn't stop bothering either of us about it to the point where I had to stop being nice about it. But if I had known about it in advance, I would've let them know you always put the lady first," I said, making Aelita giggle.

"I'll go see about giving Jeremy some help. Maybe work will get my mind off the concert for a few minutes," she abruptly said, walking away.

"Or something else," I mumbled under my breath. But it was somewhat bitterly. Thankfully, Odd's arrival saved me from being questioned if anyone heard me.

"I don't believe this. I'm jinxed. The last tickets to the concert went right under my nose just now," he said.

"You still don't seem to get that I don't need knowledge in advance to know your motives," I said before raising a ticket in my free hand.

"Wait, is that a spare ticket?" Odd asked.

"You think I don't know that you love to bring dates to every event you go to?" I said, passing him in the ticket. "You're welcome."

"Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you! You really are the best!" Odd said, hugging me.

"I'm all for the brotherly love, but not while I have a soda in my hands," I said, causing him to let go of me. "Again, I know you well. And personally knowing the members of the band allows me to pull some strings."

"You are amazing," Odd said with a wide grin.

"He's not wrong. It's amazing that you didn't make Odd look like a fool by not getting his date a ticket. I would've done it," Ulrich said with a grin.

"Me too," William said with a similar grin.

"You are all horrible people," Odd said, making everyone burst out laughing.

"Anyway, I'm going to head back to my dorm to practice a little. I'll be there if you need me," I said before draining the rest of my soda and walking off, throwing the can in the trash.

To be honest, the concert was not what I was even remotely scared about. That I know I could ace with little problem. It was the aftermath that was going to be scary. I wanted to ask Aelita out. Or at least get an answer as whether or not this crush was even going anywhere. I mean, I knew I had to do some type of action for this to go anywhere. I couldn't just make subtle hints and give gifts that could be seen as platonic. I had to actually _do_ something to show that I liked her. I might've been setting myself up for failure, but you never know.

"Gonna have a good show tonight?" Sissi asked, walking towards me with a grin. I smiled right back, and was willing to ignore the fact that Herb was behind her.

"I certainly plan on it. I know the show's gonna go great. There's something else that I want to do after the show that I need to take care of," I said, purposefully being vague.

"I'm sure you'll be fine. And thanks for the ticket, by the way. I'm actually surprised you got me one," Sissi said, raising the item in question.

"You can pull a few strings when you actually know the band. It's awesome. And before you actually decided to try being nice, I definitely wouldn't have given you one. So I don't know whether to chalk it up to convenience or careful planning," I explained.

"Probably a little bit of both," Sissi said with a smirk that shifted into a genuine smile. "But good luck tonight."

"Thank you," I said with a polite nod before going past them. I couldn't resist shooting Herb a smirk when I passed.

"Wait!" Nicholas exclaimed suddenly. I turned with a raised eyebrow. This is the first time he actively addressed me, so I was interested.

"Yeah?" I asked.

"Can I have your autograph?" he asked, raising a booklet. I blinked in surprise. That was not what I was expecting.

"Um... sure. A pen?" I questioned, making him hold it out towards me. I grabbed the paper and put my signature on it. He gave me a grin and a quick thanks. I nodded before giving him a wave as I went to my dorm. That was gonna be weird. People asking me for autographs.

Putting my headphones in my ear when I got in my dorm, I just went over my lines for the song. Just as an extra precaution. I ended up jumping a little when I saw Aelita suddenly burst in the door.

"What's up?" I asked, placing my headphones on the bed.

"I want to ask you something," Aelita said.

"Shoot," I said.

"If you weren't doing the concert with me, would you still come?" Aelita asked.

"Of course I would. It'd take a XANA attack to stop me, to be honest," I said honestly. "This about Jeremy?"

"You knew he wasn't coming, didn't you?" Aelita asked, her tone glum as she sat on my bed.

"I didn't want to mention it, but yeah. You already know that XANA attacks and we have to Return to the Past. He shows up then," I told her.

"Still, he should want to show up to support me anyway. I know what he does is important. I know that more than anyone. But there's a limit, and I feel like he's crossed it," Aelita said, putting a hand on her arm while looking away.

"He's like that. And he's going to continue to be like that until XANA's done," I told her.

"You have no idea how much he's done it with actual work too. I guess it's just how he is," Aelita said before standing up. "Take a walk with me?"

"Sure," I said, cutting the player off before walking out with her. "Has your mind been taken off the show?"

"A little yeah. But mostly because I'm so upset I can barely think straight," Aelita said.

"You know I don't like it when you're upset. So you know what this leads to right?" I asked with a raised brow. I then slowly raised my hands like Emperor Palpatine while wiggling my fingers.

"Not the Tickle Torture! I don't think I can handle that right now," Aelita exclaimed. But she was smiling again.

"Better?" I asked with a grin.

"Definitely. You're good at that," Aelita said.

"I just know you Princess. Therefore, I know all the right buttons to push," I said with a warm smile. Even though my mind found a way to take that out of context.

"So it seems," Aelita said with a grin. "So... you plan on impressing someone with your rise to stardom?"

"Oh, there's someone I'm looking to impress. And she's already here," I said with a smile.

"You've already impressed me twenty times over," Aelita said.

"Well, let tonight be the cherry on top," I said before thinking as an afterthought. _"I just hope tonight goes like I'm hoping..."_

* * *

"Look at the superstar!" William said, raising his hands as he walked in my dressing room.

"Hush, or I'll get security to throw you out," I said jokingly. He laughed before turning to Ulrich with a thumb gesture in his direction as he addressed him.

"These Hollywood people. They get a little fame, then they throw us normal people to the side," he said, making me laugh.

"You seen Aelita?" I asked.

"She said she wanted to fix her appearance a little. I wonder why," Odd said, raising his eyebrows suggestively. I rolled my eyes as his date playfully whacked him on the arm.

"I look good, right?" I asked, holding my arms out. I was still rocking a leather jacket, but it had small metal spikes on it for effect. I was rocking combat boots with my dark slacks. I also had small chains arranged near the front. It was a bit of a rough and tough look that I liked a lot.

"You definitely look good. Ready for tonight?" Yumi asked.

"Most certainly," I said with confidence.

"You're gonna knock em dead," Ulrich said, bumping my shoulder.

"If I knock em dead, no one will come back," I said in a joking manner.

"Introduce me?" an unfamiliar voice said. I looked past the others, and Odd's date was raising a hand.

"Sure. This is Robert. One part of tonight's show," Odd said, gesturing to me. I grinned before bowing slightly. Sure, call me cliche or old fashioned. But I preferred a bow over a handshake most of the time.

"Pleased to meet you," I said politely. "I hope you have the strength to deal with Odd."

"I'm stronger than I look," she said with a grin. "So you and your girlfriend are giving us a show, huh?"

"You do realize that I wanted to see him too?" Sissi said, walking in the dressing room. At least it saved me the trouble of having to answer that question.

"Well, I'm not sure too many people that would want to see that mug of yours," Odd said with a smirk, making me rub my temples.

"Why you little..." Sissi growled.

 _"Enough._ Not tonight you two," I emphasized.

"Robert, you and Aelita are on in five minutes," Sophie called out.

"Thank you darling," I called back before turning to the two of them. "One night of peace between you two. That's all I ask."

"I can do it if Odd doesn't start anything," Sissi said, crossing her arms. I then looked at him with a stern eye.

"Odd..." I trailed.

"I got it, I got it," he said, waving an arm.

"Good," I said before turning to Sissi with a smile. "You look nice."

"At least someone here has manners," she said with a grin.

"Do I count for nothing?" William asked.

"You didn't say hi," Sissi said with a pointed look.

"Hey Sissi," William said.

"Too late," she said lightly with a grin.

"Sissi," Yumi said.

"Yumi," Sissi said. To the credit of the both of them, they were able to sound very dispassionate.

"Sissi," Ulrich said with a polite wave.

"Hey Ulrich," she said with much more politeness in her tone. She barely glanced at Odd's date.

"Wanna run over a few lines?" I looked past Sissi and my eyes widened at the sight of Aelita that greeted me.

"Damn, you're a knockout," I said aloud, not even caring how I may have looked in that moment. I saw her blush while looking to the side shyly. I also saw that she was wearing my necklace, which made me grin proudly. That with the outfit she was wearing just made her look more beautiful. My eyes were roaming shamelessly.

"Thanks," she said before looking at the others. That snapped me out of my gawking daze. "We gotta start the show in a few minutes, so I would like to run the lyrics over with Robert alone."

"Got it. We'll go ahead and take our seats," Yumi said, grabbing Odd and William's arms before dragging them out. Ulrich and Odd's date already got the hint, and Sissi looked between me and Aelita before going out as well.

"I can assume you just wanted to talk to me," I said after they left.

"Yeah, you know me way too much. So, you know everything you need to do for this show?" Aelita asked.

"Yeah, I do. Speaking of which, there's something I want to talk to you about after it's all over," I told her.

"Same here. But I'll let you go first," Aelita said. There was a few moment of eye contact, and I was not sure what kind of moment this was. But the door opened, and then the eye contact was broken. I noticed her face had a light pink tinge to it.

"We're ready Sophie," Aelita said, smoothing her hair a little.

"So am I Aelita," Sophie said in a distorted voice.

"Oh boy," I said, ducking a bolt of lightning. It hit the mirror behind me, and reflected right back at XANA. She got knocked back a few meters, unconscious. "As expected, XANA showed up."

"We need to call the others. But we don't have our phones," Aelita said.

"I'm sure Sophie... Yes," I said, searching Sophie's unconscious body for her phone and keys. I then removed the chains that were on my pants. "Now all I gotta do is hook the chains here and here..." And from there, I was able to seal the door and lock her inside.

"Nice," Aelita complimented.

"Now we need to get out," I said before getting on the phone and calling Yumi. "You can already guess what the problem is."

 _"Why am I not surprised?"_ she said with a sigh.

"Get to the factory as fast as you can," I said before throwing the phone to the side to get to the factory faster. But then we were stopped by a possessed Milly and Tamiya. "Are you serious?"

"Tonight is not the night," Aelita said, getting into a defensive stance along with me. That made me smile a little before the both of us advanced. I jumped in the air and dodged a bolt of lightning before dropkicking Milly back. Aelita went forward and hit a punch right on Tamiya's stomach before turning on her heel and kicking her back. I then finished the job with a stomp to her skull.

"I wish I was wearing heels. Those two have been bothering us for the past week, so I wouldn't have felt any guilt," Aelita said with her hands on her hips. My face heated up a little. Pretty, smart, kind, _and_ can kick ass. Like she really needed another thing to make her even more attracted to her.

"Let's just focus on getting this night over with," I told her before we ran out of the building and towards the factory.

* * *

"I'm really not in the mood," I said in an aggravated tone as the elevator stopped.

"I can tell. The others are already on Lyoko, so let's try and make this brief. Tower activated in the mountain sector, so get in there and do what you do best," Jeremy said.

"Oh, I will. You can trust me on that," I said as I followed Aelita down to the scanner room.

Coming down from the air, I landed on one of the blocks that was there and impaled it in one of its target areas before using the Force to launch it into another Crab, sending them both off the edge. Taking hold of another Hornet in the air, I tightened my fist until it exploded. I was so into my slaughter than I hadn't realized that I was now able to use the Force in grips.

"You plan on saving some for the rest of us?" Odd joked.

"I don't care if I knew this was going to happen. This night was important to me and Aelita and of course he interrupts this night. Because he's an asshole," I said, throwing my weapons to cut off the crab's legs and then bringing my blades down on its target area.

"Let's head for the tower," Aelita said once the last of the monsters were taken care of. It was within running distance, so we all made a beeline for it. Glad for those close transports now.

"I can tell you're upset," Yumi said.

"Oh, upset doesn't begin to describe how mad I am. So I intend on making XANA's pathetic excuse for an attack very brief," I said before breaking off into a run with Aelita on my back.

 _"Watch out. There are two mega tanks guarding the tower,"_ Jeremy told us.

"Get to the sky and take out one of them. I got the other one," I said. She took to the skies immediately after I said that before I leaped in the air and used my sabers to balance myself on top of the tower by placing one in it. Using the Force, I held one in a grip with my eyes closed to lift it in the air before tossing it off the edge.

"Normally I would call that unfair, but right now, I really don't care," I heard Aelita say right as she threw an Energy Field at the last Mega Tank. I called my saber back to my hand once she entered the tower before landing directly in front of it.

"No wonder you didn't get the ability to lift stuff until later. That is way too good," William said.

"It certainly has its uses," I said, cracking my knuckles. "I'm glad XANA's almost done for. I enjoy fighting on Lyoko sometimes, but XANA loves getting in the way of everything."

"Same here. It'll be nice finally getting some peace," Ulrich said.

"It's kind of a mixed bag for me," Odd said.

"I'll be glad to not have to explain all these late nights to my parents anymore," Yumi said before looking at me. "Among other things..."

I knew exactly what she meant by that. That meant she could stop this 'just friends' crap with Ulrich. Cause I knew very well that wasn't what she really wanted for the either of them.

The familiar white flash of the Return to the Past filled my vision, and I was right back in my dressing room. Standing up and heading out of the door, I immediately went for Aelita's room and knocked.

"Come in," she said. I opened the door and peeked my head through.

"I must've not had my head on straight cause I failed to account for a Return to the Past," I said with a small sheepish grin.

"It's alright. You weren't alone. Either way, this night is going to happen. And we're going to we're going to make the best of it," Aelita said. I then grabbed her hand and kissed it like this was an old romance. Or one of those textbook examples of chivalry.

"You look very beautiful tonight," I said as I let her hand go.

"Thanks. You look very good yourself," she said, blushing lightly and smiling. "Still something you wanted to ask me?"

"I'll save it until after the show. Just came to talk before we started," I said right as the door knocked again. "It's open."

"Of course it is. But it's impolite to not knock first," Jeremy said in a teasing tone. "How are you two?"

"Good. It's showtime in a few minutes. Glad to see you here," Aelita said with a warm smile.

"I sure wasn't going to miss the show a second time," Jeremy said with a smile.

"If you want, I can let you two talk..." I trailed. Though I said it very reluctantly.

"No, you're fine," Aelita said before turning to Jeremy. "I was wrong to blow up at you earlier. If you want to work, I shouldn't try and stop you."

"No, you were right. I should've been here to support you. At least you had Robert here with you," Jeremy said, making Aelita turn to me with a smile. It felt like that smile was meant for me and I couldn't help but grin back.

"Yes. I did," Aelita said as Sophie called out for us. "Ready?"

"At your leisure my lady," I said, bowing and gesturing towards the door. She giggled before heading towards the door while I followed close behind.

 _"Get through the show, then confront your hesitation about asking Aelita out,"_ I thought to myself with some steel.

 _"And now it's time for our two brand new music artists: Robert Morgan and Aelita Stones!"_ the announcer said.

"I _still_ think they should put the lady first," I said, making her giggle as we walked on the stage.

"Ready?" she asked.

"But of course," I said, making her smile wider.

 _Both: Hey-o, here comes the danger up in this club  
_ _When we get started, we ain't gonna stop  
_ _We gonna turn it up, 'till it gets too hot  
_ _Everybody sing, hey-o  
_ _Tell 'em turn it up 'till they can't no more  
_ _Let's get this thing shaking like a disco ball  
_ _This is your last warning, a courtesy call_

 _Aelita: Hey-o, here comes the danger up in this club_  
 _When we get started, we ain't gonna stop_  
 _We gonna turn it up, 'till it gets too hot_  
 _Everybody sing, hey-o_  
 _Tell 'em turn it up 'till they can't no more_  
 _Let's get this thing shaking like a disco ball_  
 _This is your last warning, a courtesy call_

 _Aelita: I am not afraid of the storm that comes my way_

Me: _When it hits, it shakes me to the core_  
 _And makes me stronger than before_

 _Aelita: It's not a question about trust_  
 _But will you stand with us?_  
 _Can you feel it?_  
 _Make it real and_ _I think it might wash away tonight  
_ _Awakened from this never ending fight  
_ _It takes more than meets the eye  
_ _This war we're fighting is not just writing_

 _Both: Hey-o, here comes the danger up in this club_  
 _When we get started, we ain't gonna stop_  
 _We gonna turn it up, 'till it gets too hot_  
 _Everybody sing, hey-o_  
 _Tell 'em turn it up 'till they can't no more_  
 _Let's get this thing shakin' like a disco ball_  
 _This is your last warning, a courtesy call_

 _Me: There's a rumble in the floor_  
 _So get prepared for war_

 _Aelita: When it hits, it'll knock you to the ground_  
 _While it shakes up everything around_

 _Me: But survival is a must_  
 _So will you stand with us?_  
 _Can you feel it?_  
 _Make it real and_  
 _Make me feel it  
_ _I think it might wash away tonight  
_ _Awakened from this never ending fight  
_ _It takes more than meets the eye  
_ _This war we're fighting is not just writing_

 _Both: Hey-o, here comes the danger up in this club_  
 _When we get started, we ain't gonna stop_  
 _We gonna turn it up, 'till it gets too hot_  
 _Everybody sing, hey-o_  
 _Tell 'em turn it up 'till they can't no more_  
 _Let's get this thing shakin' like a disco ball_  
 _This is your last warning, a courtesy call_

 _Me: Hey-o, here comes the danger up in this club  
_ _When we get started, we ain't gonna stop  
_ _We gonna turn it up, 'till it gets too hot  
_ _Everybody sing, hey-o  
_ _Tell 'em turn it up 'till they can't no more  
_ _Let's get this thing shakin' like a disco ball  
_ _This is your last warning, a courtesy call_

Aelita grabbed my hand and raised it to the air as the crowd started to cheer. My cheeks heated up a little, but I was still smiling wider as I raised my other hand and then we both lowered ourselves into a bow before heading backstage again.

"To quote you, we did the damn thing," Aelita said with a grin.

"Sure did," I said.

"Now what was that thing you wanted to ask me?" Aelita asked. I swallowed hard. Easy part done. Now _this_ was the hard part.

"How are you and Jeremy doing?" I decided to start.

"We're doing fine. Though I'm starting to come to terms with the fact that you may have been wrong about him liking me," Aelita told me. That statement dropped a little nerve into my system.

 _"He_ may not, but _I_ sure as hell do," I said. And before I could force myself to chicken out, I put one hand on her shoulder and the other on the back of her head gently before putting my lips on hers.

It was a soft kiss; typically one I would imagine anyone's first kiss wanting to be like. There was a type of sweetness there that didn't make me want to stop either.

Then I felt the back of my neck being circled by both of her arms as the kiss was deepened. My eyes closed, and even my toes were curling a little bit. This should not be as good it is. But I couldn't deny that it was much better than any kiss I've had.

We parted for breath, and then we looked at each other. I smiled shyly, and she gave me a similar smile in return. Something about the fact that she was actually returning these feelings was pretty amazing to me. Not to mention it evaporated the feelings of utter terror.

"I guess you're not afraid to show it either. How long?" Aelita asked.

"Since auditions back at the school. Considering this whole thing with Jeremy, I had no idea whether or not I should've told you. I was a little scared, to be honest," I admitted.

"I'm glad you did. I was also kind of wondering the same thing. I don't want to get into all of it tonight, but I didn't even know if you would be looking my way or not," Aelita said.

"Just look at you. Even if I didn't have a crush on you, it'd be kinda hard not to," I told her.

"And this?" Aelita questioned, raising her necklace up slightly while it still remained on her neck.

"A fake emerald didn't seem like enough. I wanted to give you a real one," I told her.

"Totally unnecessary, but sweet," she said with a smile.

"Robert! Aelita!" Yumi exclaimed. We turned away from each other quickly before turning to face the others.

"I'd say we did a good job. Don't you think?" I said.

"Good job is an understatement. You both destroyed that performance," William said. I looked at Aelita and we shared a grin.

"Yes we did," we said at the same time.

"So where do you think this'll go?" Jeremy asked.

"Far Jeremy," I said with a pointed look at Aelita. "All the way." She was a smart girl. She would figure out exactly what I meant by that.

* * *

A/N: I decided to time the pairing on this episode because I figured it was perfect. I think I did it well, no? I feel like the buildup and the small hints were there leading up to it. Now we just move from here. Hope you enjoyed.


	47. Chapter 47 - Big Problems

Episode References: Cold Sweat

* * *

"How do you think we should tell him?" Aelita asked.

"I wish I knew. More than anything, I want to let people know that we're dating," I said. She laid on the side of the bed with the pillows and I was on the right wall. Even though she had a book in one hand, her other hand was in mine. I gently rubbed my thumb across the top of hers, and she'd look at me and smile fondly. The butterflies that hit my stomach didn't feel as guilty anymore.

"But out of everyone, our friends need to know first," Aelita said, putting the book down. Then she looked at me. "This is my first relationship. If I can manage it, I want it to be my only one."

"And I would hope for the same. Well, my last one," I said with a smile. "But there's the matter of letting him know. Well, it would be awkward, but we could do it now. Or do you wanna wait until XANA's over with?"

"I would tell him now, but I have the strangest feeling if we do, he'll insert himself more into XANA than he did before, and that would be saying something. While I don't have a crush on him anymore, I do think of him as one of my best friends. I certainly don't want to hurt him, and I care for his well being," Aelita said,

"That's kind of another part that I thought about if this ever happened. How it would affect Jeremy. I knew he liked you for the longest and well... I don't know. I thought I would feel like a bad person for dating you," I said with a sigh.

"Do you?" Aelita asked.

"I did at one point. Then I remember how this makes me feel," I said, raising our intertwined hands. "Then I know it's worth it. That you're worth it."

"For someone who tries not to be cheesy, you fail miserably," Aelita said with a grin before turning backwards and placing her head on my lap. Her feet idly crossed in the air while she looked up at me. I could only smile back.

"When you say what you're really thinking, lot of times, you may end up saying cheesy stuff," I said, running a hand through her hair. "Also, that apple shampoo is really addicting."

"Yumi told me that you liked it," Aelita said.

"And how does Yumi know that?" I asked.

"William told her. He was there during that moment in the forest and apparently he told Yumi about it. Speaking of whom, she's been grilling me about you possibly liking me. I didn't count on her actually being right," Aelita said.

"Well, she was. And Yumi's more perceptive than I thought, apparently. Either that, or we're just blind," I said as I looked back down at her. "Now how did you even end up beginning to like me?"

"It was a gradual thing, to be honest. As the days rolled by, I started to realize that I became less and less attracted to Jeremy and more attracted to you. It's not even just the physical aspect, which you have down very well I might add," Aelita said, making me grin. "It's everything else that really did it for me. You're just you. You don't try to change yourself for anybody You're nice, you're supportive. You trust in people, and you do everything in your power to be a good friend. I just realized kinda of late that I liked you in that way. Remember that day when Jeremy made a clone of himself to work longer?"

"Yeah?" I questioned.

"Well remember when XANA knocked you into the water?" Aelita asked.

"Yeah..." I trailed.

"Um... You've got a nice chest," Aelita said with a blush. I blinked once before a look of realization came to my face.

"So _that's_ why the others were fighting back smirks," I said.

"I think everyone except for you and Jeremy noticed me eyeing you like a friggin' steak dinner," Aelita said, making me burst out laughing. I'm upset at myself for not catching that. "Hey, I've got no shame in admitting it now."

"Well, you can thank the constant exercise and XANA attacks for that," I said, kissing her forehead.

"So yeah, that's when I kind of noticed it. Now you said you realized it at auditions?" Aelita asked.

"Yeah. Even prior to that, there were certain... emotions there that I didn't feel for you when I first became part of the group. There was this different type of attraction that was there. I wasn't an expert on dealing with these sort of things, so I kind of kept it all inside. Emily does know though."

"How?"

"She deserved to know. Because you are the main reason I didn't get back together with her. Not the only reason, but the main one."

"Even though you weren't sure if I even liked you?"

"If you really like someone, then you don't try and keep your options open as some guys like to do. You get an answer first before trying to move on." Aelita got up off my lap before grabbing my hand as she stood up. "What are you doing?"

"Just checking," Aelita said, peeking out the door. Then she came back and closed the door before grabbing the back of my neck and pulling me in for a kiss. I closed my eyes and put my left hand on the small of her back. Yup. This still felt amazing.

"Jesus, I think you kiss better than me," I said when she pulled away, making her giggle. "But what was that for?"

"No reason. It's just nice to know I started off dating right. Well, not completely right, but with the right person at least," Aelita said with a grin.

"I can't say the same, but at least this is where I turn it around," I said, giving her a peck on the cheek. "Should we leave? The others will start wondering where we are and this will be kind of hard to explain."

"Dammit," Aelita said with a sigh. "Alright, we'll head out. You don't look any different."

"You don't either. Alright, shall we?" I questioned as I stepped back from the door while speaking my knight voice again.

"Let's," Aelita said regally as I opened the door. As soon as we did, we immediately came face to face with the others.

"Hey, we were looking everywhere for you two," Yumi said.

"Oh, we were just in here. There was something I was going over with Aelita," I said.

"Oh? What?" William asked.

"More music," I said simply.

"Ah. So you two are definitely in the music industry for the long run?" Jeremy asked.

"Yessir. We have plans to go far," I said, putting an arm around her shoulder proudly with a smile.

"I'm sure the crowd will love a couple making music together," Odd said with a smirk, making me roll my eyes.

"There's probably one somewhere in America if they need one. They have no idea if we're just friends or not," I said, choosing my words carefully.

"They're going to start saying it because that's what these tabloids do," Ulrich said.

"Let them talk. We know what is true and what is false. By all means, let them say whatever they want. It doesn't affect either of us in the slightest," Aelita said casually. Neither of us were technically denying that we were together. We were just sort of deflecting the idea of it. Which was enough really.

"That's the kind of attitude that you need," Yumi said. Though I noticed it was with a lack of a smile. I tilted my head at her.

"Something wrong, Yumi?" I asked.

"No, nothing at all. Why would you say that?" she asked in a very short tone. I simply crossed my arms and gave her a stare. "Jeez, how can you look like my parents in three seconds flat?"

"A gift," I said with a shrug. "Now what's the matter?"

"This'll answer your question," William said, passing me a school newspaper. I ran my eyes over it in three seconds flat before the picture told me everything that I needed to know.

"Jesus, no wonder you wear black all the time," I said, closing the paper immediately.

"So do you. So do you look terrible in pink?" Aelita asked with a smirk.

"I wouldn't know if I've never worn it Princess," I said with a grin before tossing the paper in the small bin that I had next to my door. "Any idea who gave the picture away? I doubt anyone who didn't know you would've been able to get that."

"Oh, just a little weasel with blond and purple hair," she said, glaring at the person in question. Her stare was like a spiritual manifestation of ice.

"Oh, come on Yumi. I said I was sorry," Odd said.

"If you were really sorry, you wouldn't have given them the stupid picture in the first place," Yumi said before storming off. I then turned to Aelita.

"Go talk to her?" I asked.

"Sure," she said before jogging to catch up to Yumi. I then turned to Jeremy.

"So what's been going on? What have I missed besides that?" I said, pointing to the trash can.

"A new Replika's been found," Ulrich said.

"Which means another one to destroy," I said, cracking my fingers by intertwining them and pushing them forward.

"So what are you and Aelita working on?" William asked.

"Ah, ah, ah. A musician never reveals their work before it's ready," I said, waving a finger with a grin. "But all I can tell you is that it'll be some pretty big news."

"I'm sure it will," Odd said before looking to William. "I don't understand why you couldn't have taken the blame for me."

"Are you kidding me? Yumi half believes I don't belong in the group as it is. I don't want to give her reason to enforce that fact. Plus I'm not dumb enough to direct her wrath to me in the first place," William said.

"I concur on that last reason," Ulrich said, raising his hand.

"Odd, do yourself a favor and show a little character growth here. Either take responsibility for your actions, or just don't do them at all. Did you even get anything out of giving Milly and Tamiya that picture?" I questioned.

"Well, um... no," Odd said awkwardly, making me raise my arms up in exasperation. "Look, they asked me and Hiroki was willing to cough up the picture for me. Oh..."

"Ah. So that's where _you_ got the picture from. Yeah, um..." I trailed.

"I think we're going to find both your corpses in front of the school come dawn," Jeremy said, making me point at him as a sign of agreement.

"That sounds about right," Ulrich said. Odd just groaned.

* * *

 _"Alright, who's getting teleported tonight?"_ Jeremy asked.

 _"I vote for Yumi and Ulrich. They're good together on a mission,"_ Aelita said.

 _"Agreed,"_ Yumi said.

 _"Ulrich?"_ Jeremy questioned.

 _"I've certainly got no complaints,"_ Ulrich said.

 _"Alright, I'll transfer you shortly,"_ Jeremy said.

"It'll be nice to not have to deal with whatever's on that base for once," I said, putting my hands behind my head.

 _"I'm sure you're glad for that,"_ Aelita said.

"Eh. It's nice to relax for once," I said, closing my eyes.

 _"Well, if you have it anything like us, then you'll be seeing some action regardless of whether you go or not,"_ William said. _"I can proudly say I'm getting better at fighting, thank you very much."_

"Well, that's good. Who knows what's even going to happen?" I questioned.

 _"This'll answer your question. XANA's managed to get several Polymorphic Specters at the base. They've all armed soldiers,"_ Jeremy said.

"So looks like there's a tower we have to deactivate," I said.

 _"Right. Aelita, the tower is east of your position,"_ Jeremy said.

 _"We're on our way. Disembarking,"_ Aelita said, teleporting all of us off the Skid. "Will thy loyal knight provide his princess with transportation?"

"Loyal knight shall, milady," I said before crouching slightly so she could climb on my back.

 _"Here come the vehicles for our less mobile Knights of the Round Table,"_ Jeremy said, making me grin. Odd took his Overboard and William got the Overbike.

Speeding off towards the tower, a mega tank suddenly appeared around the corner and readied a blast in our direction.

"I can't stand these things," William said, veering hard to the right when the tank blasted. I did the same before throwing out a push in its direction. That caused it to roll back while Aelita readied a blast on my back before tossing it directly at the mega tank, destroying it instantly.

"That's the teamwork we're looking for," I said with a proud smile.

 _"You're gonna need it. The tower is surrounded by tarantulas,"_ Jeremy said, making me look up. There had to have been at least five of them.

"Take to the skies. I got this," I said, causing her to jump off and activate her wings immediately. I went up the side of the building while the others went from the air too.

Running up the ice wall vertically with my Force Sprint, in the blink of an eye, I was in the air and brought my sabers down on the target area of the nearest monster.

"Ya!" William said, leaping off the Overbike and coming down on the tarantulas next to me hard with his sword. It was devirtualized instantly. The tarantula on my left took notice of me and began to fire as fast as it could. Twirling my blades at a blinding speed, I deflected each of the lasers back at him before being fast enough to catch him with a push off the ledge.

I frowned slightly before I threw a hand out, making the tarantula freeze before it hit the ground. I could use the Force in grips now, which to be honest, was a long time coming. I then raised it up to the level of the other tarantulas before holding a grip on its arms. That made it fire without mercy, which in turn, made its fellow monsters start to attack it.

"This is too much fun," I said with a grin.

Odd circled around to the side of the tarantulas and dispatched the both of them with Laser Arrows to their target areas.

"Boom. That's finished. Now let's take care of the tower. I'll leave that honor to you," I said, bowing to Aelita once she landed and her wings retracted.

"Gee. Thanks," Aelita said. But the tone was dry. I couldn't help but laugh.

 _"Goodness, I love this woman."_ Then I realized what I just thought, making me jump hard physically.

"Hey, you alright?" William asked in concern, placing a hand on my shoulder.

"Oh, I'm fine. Just a weird spasm. I'm fine," I said, waving a dismissive hand in the air. I mean, it was no secret that I loved each and everyone one of my friends. But that kind of love and that romantic love are on two separate planes, aren't they? They shouldn't really coincide with each other so easily. Right? Aw, piss.

 _"Now this is a problem,"_ Jeremy said.

"What's the deal?" I asked.

 _"XANA's consolidating energy from all the Replikas,"_ Jeremy said, making everyone look at each other. _"And I'm not talking about just two or three."_

"Why's he doing that?" Aelita asked, making my eyes widen.

"Oh no," I said, making Aelita look to me. Then the back of my skull buzzed so hard, I had to hold my head and my knees bent a little. "Robert?! Are you alright?"

"Big guy's coming. Remember that monster I told you about?" I said right as the ground shook.

"How big is this monster?" Odd questioned as everyone was trying their hardest to keep their balance. I then gestured with a finger point.

"Judge for yourself," I said. He looked at the monster and his eyes widened.

"Holy crap," Odd said.

"Is there anyway to beat this thing?" Aelita asked.

"There are target areas on his arms, and one big one on its face. Aim for them and hope for the best," I said as Odd hopped back on his Overboard and William on the Overbike. Aelita then started to take flight with her wings.

"Jeremy, Robert's going to need the Overwing," Aelita said.

"No need. I can help from down here," I said.

"How?" Aelita asked.

"Just watch me. But distract it. And try and keep any threats away from me if you can," I told them. Aelita nodded before flying further into the sky.

Concentrating with my hands at my side, I took a deep breath in and out before channeling everything I had with the Force. I then held the monster in a grip to keep it still. Immediately, my whole body began to strain with the effort it took, but I held firm. This was not easy in the slightest. This thing took everything I had just to keep it still.

"Find the target spots. Hit them!" I exclaimed through gritted teeth.

Soon after, I heard Laser Arrows, Energy Fields, and William's sword impacting stuff. But I just held it for as long as I could.

"How much damage have they done to that thing? I feel like I'm about to have a hernia over here!" I exclaimed.

 _"They've taken away a majority of its strength, at the very least,"_ Jeremy said.

"Tell them to target its skull. And fast," I said before I collapsed to my knees from exhaustion. I had one arm out in front of me trying to push myself up, but I was good and drained. Then another buzzing hit the back of my skull. One that felt agonizing through my exhaustion.

 _"Oh, no. We've got an old friend here again,"_ Jeremy said as I heard a loud screech. I was able to turn out of the corner of my eye and saw a number of tentacles heading my way.

"Great. Just what I needed," I said before trying to push myself up again. I managed to get to my feet and I used the Force to summon my lightsabers to my hands, but tentacles quickly found their way to my wrists, forcing me to let go of them. Then I found the rest of my body being bound in place. But instead of going for my head with other tentacles, it just floated off.

"Jeremy, what's it doing?" I asked, but I got no response. "Jeremy? Crap. He managed to cut off communication with us."

The only thing I could move around was my head. And I had no energy to even try to do a push without access to my arms. The only thing I could really do was wait and hope someone noticed that I was being taken away. An explosion behind me quickly let me know that I was in fact found.

"Do _not_ touch him," I heard Aelita say. But daresay, she sounded more furious than I've heard her before. I turned and as she was in the air, she had a gigantic ball of energy before throwing it at the Scyphozoa. The thing fizzled from the energy of it, letting me go in the process. But it continue to jerk and screech before it exploded. I rolled on my back before breathing a sigh of relief. Also, that was interesting. Did not know the Scyphozoa could even be destroyed. I guess if Aelita was angry enough, it could be.

"Are you ok?" Aelita said. "It was taking you toward the Digital Sea, so I knew I had to act."

"I got saved by a beautiful princess. Of course I'm ok," I said with a weak grin. "I'm tired as hell. That put a strain on my body."

"Can you at least walk?" Aelita asked. She didn't even wait for an answer before she helped me up and activated her wings so we could get in the air. I then looked and saw that XANA's giant monster was heading right for us again. I know it had a name. I just didn't care for trying to remember it right now. "Jeremy, we've got to go now. Jeremy?"

"XANA's managed to cut our communications. We're on our own for now. We need to get back to the Skid and abort. As many tools as the Skid has, it does not have a messaging system," I said as she flew near the monster. But just far away enough so we wouldn't get swatted out of the air.

"We've got to go, you two! Leave it!" Aelita exclaimed.

"No, this thing's gonna go if I have anything to say about it," William yelled back firmly. I groaned. He was _still_ hard headed. Old habits die hard, I guess.

But the thing that we all witnessed was William leaping off the Overbike and impaling the thing in the head with his giant ass sword. He dug around for a minute before retracting it and jumping out. The thing gave off a loud groan before it swayed backwards then fell forwards. But me, Aelita, and William were all devirtualized in the process. I immediately fell forward because I was still exhausted, but I managed to get to my feet. With the assistance of a very pretty Strawberry Top.

"You're always here when I'm about to fall flat on my ass, aren't you?" I said with a grin. Aelita just gave me a peck on the cheek, making me smile wider.

"That's what I'm here for. Now come on. You need to sit down," Aelita said, helping me onto the elevator.

"I was wondering what happened. I couldn't hear you guys at all," Jeremy said once we got off the elevator.

"XANA cut off our communications. At least the monster's taken care of," I said as Aelita helped me sit down.

"I'm sure Odd's glad I finished it off," William said. To be honest, I half forgot that William was there. Which means he saw Aelita kiss me. Aw, shit. Well, at least it was on the cheek. Which means he couldn't read too much into it.

"How are the others doing?" I asked.

"XANA still managed to spare a few monsters for Odd, but as for Yumi and Ulrich, I have no idea since I lost almost all contact with them. Whatever he's doing to block me, it's doing it well," Jeremy said as I slowly got to my feet.

"You should be resting," Aelita told me.

"There's time to do that later," I said as I stood next to Jeremy's chair. "Have you managed to trace the source of whatever's causing that jamming?

"A scan of the base that Yumi and Ulrich are at showed that it's emitting a signal that XANA was able direct to Lyoko. The only thing that will stop it is if the Supercomputer is taken out," Jeremy said.

"Then they either have to figure out that they just have to destroy it, or one of us goes in and tells them," I listed.

"I'll go back in and help them," Aelita said.

"Be careful/You sure about this?" Me and Jeremy spoke at the same time before looking at each other.

"I will, and yes I'm sure. Considering Robert's shape and William's lack of knowledge on the computer, I'm the best candidate," Aelita explained.

"Alright, head to the scanners. I'll transfer you," Jeremy said. Aelita immediately went down for the scanners. I then looked to William.

"You go with her. I'd feel better knowing she had backup. It feels like this is what XANA wants us to do," I told him.

"No problem," he said before heading down to the scanners. I then went back over to the wall and sat down.

"You ok?" Jeremy asked me once he got Aelita and William transferred.

"I'm fine. Just drained and in a slight bit of pain. Only a little though. I tell you though. Keeping that thing still is not easy," I said.

"Your powers are pretty amazing. In fact, I think the only abilities that really compare are Aelita's," Jeremy said.

"To be honest, she was always the most powerful out of everyone. She just wasn't as skilled with her powers as everyone else was with theirs," I told him.

"I suppose that's true. Um... since comms are down, I want to ask your help on something," Jeremy said awkwardly.

"Go for it," I said immediately.

"Well... wait, hold on. Aelita? Ulrich? Yumi?" Jeremy said.

"Guess they took care of the Supercomputer then," I said.

"Alright, I'm bringing you all back in," Jeremy said, typing on the computer. Then by threes, which was basically two return trips, everyone was in the factory safe and sound.

"That monster's gonna be problem. If it so much as breathes on the Skid, it's done for," I said.

"One thing is for sure. We're really gonna have to change our strategy. XANA controls hundreds of Supercomputers around the globe. We'll never be able to destroy all of them," Jeremy said.

"Unless we find a way to destroy all of them at once," I said thoughtfully.

"You think there's a way?" Jeremy asked.

"Most definitely. It's the how that's the hard part," I said.

"I see a lot of work in our future. Oh, goody," Aelita said dryly.

"I'm ready to stick to my pillow right now. Otherwise I'll sleep through my math test tomorrow," Odd said.

"I think we could all use the sleep after today. Especially Robert," William said.

"Amen to that statement brotha," I said, getting to my feet. "But you guys go ahead. Yumi, one sec."

"Hmm?" she said with a raised eyebrow. I only gestured for her to follow, and we were in a more private corner. "What's up?"

"Still wanna get back at Odd?" I asked.

"Most definitely. What do you have in mind?" Yumi asked.

"You have the number to his sisters, right?" I asked.

"Just the middle oldest, Tina. Why?" Yumi asked.

"Just give it here. I'll take it from there."

* * *

"You certainly know how to handle stuff," Yumi said with a grin.

"You did this?" Aelita asked.

"I called Odd's sisters, and they gladly gave it to me. Especially after they heard about my music performance," I said with a grin.

"No wonder Odd can't stand his sisters if they did stuff like this," Jeremy said, still looking at the phpto.

"How do you think Odd's going to react once he finds out you did it?" Ulrich asked.

"He's not. I told him Herb did it, and I made Milly and Tamiya vouch for me just in case," I said, putting my hands behind my head in relaxation.

"Devious," William said with a grin.

"Thank you," I said before dust flew past. That dust was Odd hot on Herb's trail as he was running after him.

"What did I even do to you?!" Herb exclaimed.

"You little weasel! The tool shed called! The wood chipper wants to go on a date with you!" Odd exclaimed, making Herb yell in fear. All of us laughed hard at the sight.

"Only you could get Odd threatening people with wood chippers," Ulrich said.

"It's a talent," I said before looking at Yumi. "Better?"

"Ten times over," she said with a grin.


	48. Chapter 48 - The Final Fight

A/N: How often do I get you 2 chapters in a row? Merry Christmas. Lol

Episode References: Down to Earth

* * *

"These nightmares love to keep coming back, don't they?" I said.

"This was different. I was on Lyoko this time and, well... I just saw you falling into the digital sea, and..." Aelita trailed before leaning further on my shoulder. I put an arm around hers before kissing her on the cheek.

"Hey, don't worry about that. We're going to take out XANA and save your father. And you two are going to be able to catch up on what you've lost. If you think I'm going anywhere in the process, you're crazy. I'm metal to your magnet honey," I said gently, making her smile.

"You're right. We should head down to breakfast," Aelita said, leaning off my shoulder.

"Before I do that..." I held the door firmly with one hand before pressing my lips against Aelita's. She ran her fingers through my hair and held it in a slight grip. Her other hand was touching my right cheek, her thumb caressing it slightly.

"I'm addicted to the taste of your lips," I said when we parted.

"I'm a bad person for feeding that addiction. But I don't care," Aelita said with a smile as she walked out of my room. I grinned before moving to get ready.

* * *

"So much for a complete breakfast," I said as we were all sprinting towards the factory.

"Still, whatever my father has to show us, it's most likely very important," Aelita said.

"I know it is. Which is why I will finish it after we're finished here," I said.

"Who knows how long this might take? We could be here for hours," Yumi said.

"I really don't want that to be the case. People are definitely gonna start noticing that we're missing," William said.

"No different from usual, really," Odd said with a shrug.

"Stop! Stop!" I hissed, getting everyone to halt in their tracks. Sissi was standing right over the manhole and I got everyone to duck down.

"Great. Guess we're going in through the side entrance," Ulrich said as we snuck away in the other direction. Then the door that normally was unlocked, was locked.

"Oh, perfect. This door's normally never locked," William said.

"Yumi, do you have a hairpin?" I asked.

"Don't tell me you know how to pick locks with hairpins?" Yumi asked, taking one out of her hair and handing it to me. I then got to work on the lock. In seconds, it opened with a click.

"That answer your question?" I said, handing the hairpin back to her.

"You'd make a Grade A thief. Ninja skills, lockpicking. It'd be a great career for you," Odd said.

"Yes. Let me abandon a career in music to steal other peoples' shit," I said dryly.

"Just something to think about," Odd said with a wink.

"Don't do that. It's weird," I said as we approached the factory.

"I just hope whatever my father sent Jeremy, it'll help with dealing with XANA," Aelita said.

"I'm sure it will. We just need to figure out what it is," I said as we all piled in the elevator.

"Alright, Einstein. What's the latest?" Odd asked once we got off.

"Franz Hopper sent me some interesting data and coordinates. He's preparing something on the Ice Sector. Something really critical," Jeremy explained.

"Critical in what way?" Aelita asked.

"I wish I knew. All I know is that it's worth checking out and that we're most likely going to need everyone's help for this," Jeremy said.

"Count us all in," William said.

"Great. Get to the scanners. I'll get you all there quickly," Jeremy said as we all ran off.

As we neared the scanners, I saw Aelita stop suddenly with a blank look on her face. I immediately went to her.

"You ok?" I asked in a concerned tone.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just... those visions again," Aelita said.

"Everything's going to be fine. Visions never give the end result, so don't lean on the outcome too much," I assured her. She nodded before we started to move towards the scanners again.

"Alright, there's a lot of activity going on behind that waterfall. I think you're gonna want to get a closer look," Jeremy said.

"I'll scout it; make sure it's safe," I said before dashing forward.

"Be careful," Aelita said as I drew a saber to already be ready in case this was a XANA trap. Because I couldn't properly remember.

"Franz, are you in here?" I said as I rounded the corner. I looked inside and he was there, floating above a body of water. "It is you." Franz's form just hovered in front of me and shifted only slightly every so often.

"What do you have planned? What's the deal with XANA?" I asked before the ground started to shake. "Oh, no. Is that I think it is? Jeremy, can you check? Jeremy?"

"Robert, you might wanna get back out here!" Yumi exclaimed.

"Stay close to me. Do not put yourself at risk," I said before running out with my sabers ignited. I always kept in front of Hopper; keeping an eye out for any lasers coming his way. Which could come from a lot of different directions. There was a swarm of manta along with the Kolossus.

"Isn't this just a dandy do da day?!" William exclaimed sarcastically as he sunk into the ground with his Super Smoke ability before appearing on the top of an iceberg and nailing a manta with an energy wave.

"We're going to need our vehicles," Yumi said.

"I think Jeremy might've been knocked out by whatever XANA launched. One of us will have to go back to help him," I said as I was deflecting lasers away from Hopper while trying to maintain distance from the Kolossus.

"I'll go. I can help him from there," Yumi said.

"Then use our gigantic friend to help you get back," I said pointing before lashing out with lightning on a manta and throwing my saber at it to take it out. There were still like fifty of them in the air.

"Don't bother with trying to keep it still. Even for a second. Just keep going," Aelita told me.

"Don't have to tell me twice," I said, throwing my sabers out to either side of me to block several lasers heading for Hopper. "XANA really wants you dead Franz. Regardless, I'm not going to let it happened."

We were on the defensive for a while; we were all mainly just running away and taking potshots at whatever mantas we could. Odd's shield was the only reason he had as many life points as he did with all the laser fire going on. Aelita mainly just stayed close to me, and I was able to stop her from getting hit that way.

 _"Do you read me guys?"_ Jeremy asked.

"Loud and clear. Just like the Kolossus and the fifty manta in the sky," I told him dryly.

 _"That looks about right from my screen. Anyway, you've got to protect Hopper at all costs. He's sending me some data,"_ Jeremy said.

"Vehicles would make that easier Jeremy," Ulrich said.

"Sending them," Jeremy said as William came back from a Super Smoke.

"I thought the position up top would be more advantageous. I got nailed twice for thinking it," William said, holding his arm. "Took out a fair amount of manta, at least."

"Whatever you do, keeping Franz alive is your top priority. We can live to tell the tale if we lose all our life points. Franz isn't as fortunate," I told him before deflecting a laser. I then hit the manta with lightning and Aelita swiftly finished it off with an Energy Field.

"That starts with dealing with that thing. Our backs are against the wall," William said as the vehicles virtualized.

 _"Especially now. XANA's directing more power from the Replikas to power the Kolossus. You've got to slow it down,"_ Jeremy said.

"Alright. Ulrich, William, and Odd. Take to the skies and aim for the target area on his forehead. Me and Aelita will try to keep Franz out of harms way," I said.

"We'll do our best. Just keep him alive," Ulrich said, hopping on the Overbike and taking to the skies along with William. Odd got the Overboard, and Aelita hopped on the Overwing to get higher in the air. I then looked at Hopper before nodding and dashing to the side.

 _"They're slowing it down. It's even dying slowly,"_ Jeremy said.

"Finish it off and go for the target areas on its arms," I told him. I then had deflect a laser coming at Hopper, but I got nailed in my left arm because of that. "Son of a bitch." I then threw my saber up in the air, and it sailed right through the manta before I summoned it back to my hand as I heard a loud groan from the Kolossus.

"Uh oh. You might wanna go pick one of them up. They don't have the Overbike anymore," I told Aelita.

"Going for it," she said before speeding off into the air. From what I could catch from my perspective of just deflecting lasers from a three hundred and sixty degree angle.

 _"Kolosuss is down. Thank goodness,"_ Jeremy said before a crash that shook the entire sector was felt underneath my feet.

"We all felt that. Now what?" I asked.

 _"Now we just wait for... Oh... This can't be possible,"_ Jeremy said.

"What?" I asked as Franz sped off towards the digital sea. "Where are you going? Jeremy, what's the deal here?"

 _"He sent me data for a program. An_ Anti-XANA _program,"_ Jeremy said.

"Exactly what we need. If we run that, all of his Replikas, all his work, all his towers. It'll all be gone if he's gone," I said.

"What do we have to do?" William said, appearing suddenly after a Super Smoke. "I'm fine, by the way. Jumped off at the right time, and just far enough."

 _"First, all of you are heading to Sector Five. I can't do it alone,"_ Jeremy said.

"Type the code and send us. We're ready," I said, deflecting more lasers.

"Back off bitch!" Ulrich exclaimed, jumping and destroying a manta with a swift strike. "Stupid gnats."

"There's the transporter!" Odd exclaimed with a point. The transporter was hauling ass too. It was moving faster than usual, which was more than welcome given how many different directions we were being shot at.

 _"Alright, now one of you have got to go. Yumi's having some trouble with the specter XANA sent,"_ Jeremy said.

"I'll go. You're needed more here than I am, and I've lost more life points," William said.

"See you on the flip side buddy," I said, activating my lightsabers and swiftly cutting through him to devirtualize him. Then I turned to see that the door opened. "Come on."

 _"Where are you now?"_ Jeremy asked.

"The Celestial Dome," Aelita said.

 _"That's perfect. I'm sending you the program,"_ Jeremy said right as that swarm of mantas started to return.

"I don't think our flying friends much care for an Anti-XANA program," Odd said, firing off arrows.

"Well, tough tits. It's happening," I said, holding two mantas in a grip before crushing them. "Make it happen 'Lita."

"My pleasure," Aelita said, hitting her palm on the switch. But it only fizzled. I looked at the console for a brief second before looking back at the mantas.

 _"Oh, great! Of course it's not that easy! There's not enough power to run the program!"_ Jeremy exclaimed.

"What about the power of the Skid? Can we use up all of the energy of it to help with it?" I asked.

 _"Um... Yes! Yes I can! But it has to be in this area for me to be able to drain the power from it,"_ Jeremy said.

"Leave that to me. Force Sprint!" I exclaimed before running fast enough to where my feet was a blur gliding along the ground.

I didn't bother taking the elevator up because my Sprint was actually faster in getting up the wall to where the Skid was still parked. Waiting for me were several Creepers blasting away at the Skid.

"I really don't have time for this," I said as I swiftly moved from platform to platform, cutting down each Creeper that was firing at it. I then stopped on the platform. "I'm here! Energize me!"

 _"Energizing now,"_ Jeremy said before I immediately teleported into the Skid.

Flying the Skid out of the hangar, I immediately docked it right up under the platform the others were launching the code from. _"Now give it a few seconds to transfer power. Be warned: once that power runs out, I'm not sure if you'll have a Skid to be sitting in anymore. And I can't energize you out while the power is being transferred."_

"Well, let's hope I at least have one sliver of it to hold onto," I said before looking out at the mantas approaching the Skid and shooting it. "We've got a problem here."

 _"Very little is going right today! I can't send you your vehicles, so there's no way the others will be able to get to you,"_ Jeremy said right as an Energy Field destroyed the manta in front of me.

"Wrong. I still can," Aelita said, floating in the air with her wings flapping.

 _"Good job Aelita,"_ Jeremy said.

I could hear Odd taking potshots with his Laser Arrows and I knew Ulrich couldn't do much of anything from his position. But at least it was working. But before I knew it, I found myself falling.

"Shit!" I yelled as I started to descend. Then I suddenly halted as I found my arms being grabbed.

"You didn't really think I'd let you fall, did you?" Aelita said, making me grin.

"My savior and angel, you are," I said with a grin. She then floated me up to the top and back on the platform. But I got nailed in the arm on the way up as well as Aelita.

"Alright, it's completely done! Run the program!" Jeremy exclaimed. I immediately moved for the console and placed my palm against it. Immediately after, a bunch of white things came out of the direction of the core before instantly destroying each of XANA's mantas. It then left the area.

 _"It's destroying all of the Replikas! XANA is dying!"_ Jeremy exclaimed.

"This is exactly what I was hoping for," I said, starting to smile. We couldn't see what was going on, but we all knew those things were destroying all pieces of XANA. Then after a while, everything went silent.

 _"It can't be, but it is,"_ Jeremy said silently.

"It's over. It's finally over," I said, my feet giving out from under me. I dunno know if my feet just gave out on me out of... exhaustion? Happiness? Relief? A mixture of the three?

"It's over," Aelita said with a smile.

 _"I just got something else,"_ Jeremy said as I looked up. There Franz Hopper was floating in front of us. And... he didn't die this time. _He didn't die this time._ Because of me. I know this was because of me. This happened as a direct result of my interference. XANA dies. And doesn't take Franz with him.

"What is it?" Ulrich asked.

 _"A virtualization code. I... I think it's time for Franz to come home,"_ Jeremy said, making Aelita perk up. _"Hold on. I'm bringing you all back."_

* * *

"Is this going to work?" William asked.

"Hopper sent it, so I would think so," Jeremy said before turning back to the computer and pressing one key. "Launching program."

We all immediately ran down to the scanner room and we waited. I looked at Aelita and she looked very, very nervous that he wasn't going to show up. I casually moved so for the most part, the others wouldn't see, but I held her hand and rubbed the top of it comfortingly.

"He'll be here," I assured her. She looked at me before nodding. Even though people might ask questions, I wasn't going to let go of her hand. To be honest, I didn't really care. I've wanted to tell the others since day one. I can't stand feeling like this is something I have to hide. I care for this girl with every fiber of my being. I care for the others as well, but it's different with her. Always has been. Maybe I love her and I can't say it yet. Hell, or even admit it to myself. Maybe I'm just even crazier than I thought I was. All I know is that I care for her so much, it hurts, cheesiness be damned.

Then I heard the scanner door open. I looked over to the scanner we were all standing from, and there was some smoke that was in the way. Once it cleared, we saw Franz leaned against the back of it. Almost as if he were sleeping against it. I felt Aelita go stiff with shock.

"I daresay it's been a while since I've walked on my own two legs," Franz said in a voice that sounded every bit like the recordings he left. He didn't age a bit. Then he turned towards Aelita. "Aelita. It's been a long time. Far too long."

"Daddy!" she exclaimed before running at him and embracing him. I could see tears trailing down her face, but I couldn't help but smile. He was still alive... he was still here.

"I owe all of you everything. You all are the bravest bit of teenagers I could ever hope to meet," Franz said once father and daughter finally separated.

"All in a day's work Mr. Hopper," Ulrich said with a smile.

"More like a few years, but we're not going to talk about that," Odd said with a grin. Then Franz looked at me.

"We've got a lot of catching up to do," he said.

"Quite a lot. How about we give your first bit of food in nearly twelve years?" I suggested.

"That sounds like an excellent idea," Franz said.

"You'll learn very fast that him and Odd think with their stomachs," Aelita said, making me and the goofball in question put an arm around each others' shoulders.

"We do not deny this. We embrace it," me and Odd said at the same time, making everyone laugh. Even Hopper. I think we really were connected through food. It was almost freaky the way we could mimic each other.

"We'll give the pizza place a shot," Jeremy suggested.

"Can't go wrong with pizza being the first thing you eat in over twelve years," Ulrich said.

"Amen brotha," I said with a grin.

"I'm fine with anything. As long as I get to see my daughter. And properly get to know her boyfriend better," Franz said, making me choke on my own spit. Everyone else's eyes widened to the size of saucers.

"Oh, um... they're kind of not together yet," Yumi said awkwardly, making Franz frown.

"Strange. Has so much changed in ten years to where holding hands does not signify a couple anymore?" Franz said, making my face heat up. Aelita's was looking the same way.

"Holding hands? I wasn't holding her hand. And the only person next to me was..." Jeremy looked dead at me, and I scratched the back of my head while looking away.

"How did we not even catch that?" William questioned, making Yumi elbow him hard to make him shut up.

"Um... to be fair, I wanted to tell you as soon as it happened," I said lamely. Jeremy's eyes were still wide with shock.

"I wouldn't trade it for the world, but I'm already starting to feel the repercussions of a very blunt father," Aelita said with a sigh.

* * *

A/N: And that is that. XANA's dead, Franz is alive and well. But the secret relationship is no longer a secret. Because Franz is too observant. But this was really fun to write. And I'm nowhere near done once I do the Echoes episode, which'll officially be the last canon episode. I still got some stuff planned for this story. Just you wait. Also, for any of you who wonder why the Skid is still intact to transfer power to the Anti-XANA program was because since the Skid was lost because of a mission to save William, in this case, the Skid never gets put in that situation because William is alright. Therefore, the Skid is never lost. And it served a higher purpose right there in the end. It was sacrificed instead of Hopper to beat XANA. Hope you all enjoyed!


	49. Chapter 49 - Shutdown

A/N: Bout time I got around to this.

* * *

"How long?" Jeremy asked, his tone giving nothing away.

"Since the show with the Subdigitals. But I had been crushing on her for a while since then," I admitted.

"I knew it!" Odd exclaimed. All at once, Aelita, Yumi, William, and Ulrich smacked him in the back of his head at the same time. Franz watched the action with confusion and a mild bit of amusement. As mentioned before, we all decided to go to a pizza place to eat, but Jeremy was more interested in what was going on with Aelita and me than eating.

"You know everything that happens and what we all tend to think. So you knew I liked her," Jeremy said, making me bite my bottom lip out of slight guilt.

"I did. But you weren't doing anything, and... hell, I couldn't wait any longer. I needed an answer. Whether yes or no, I wanted to know if she wanted to date me. And that was down to her decision, not mine. I was overjoyed when she said yes. But since then, we've had to contemplate on how to tell you," I explained him to him.

"Go back a few days. What do you think I was going to ask you advice for? Use your imagination," Jeremy said somewhat bitterly. I paused for a second before sighing sadly.

"Lemme guess. You were finally going to ask her out," I said.

"Out of everyone, you were the person who knew either of us well. So you were the person I immediately thought of to ask for help in this situation. Yet I didn't know that you hadn't gotten to her first," Jeremy said with a resigned sigh. "I suppose I shouldn't have expected for her to wait on me. I just had... apprehensions about asking her."

"Before I this... feeling(I did not want to call it love yet) started to spring up, I was the number one person pushing for you two to get together. I did everything I could to try and push you two along, and yet, you didn't move an inch closer together. Then I started to like Aelita, and then things got really complicated. I knew you liked her, so I tried to push myself away from her as much as I could," I started explaining.

"But this is Aelita we're talking about here. Once you're close, you're close. No way I was going to be able to push myself further away from her. Then things got to the point where I just couldn't deny that I wanted her. Even though I had a feeling that she was still hung up on you. There were just so many things that could've gone wrong in my mind, but I'll be damned if I was going to let it eat away at me. If you like someone enough, you'll take those kind of risks. And I can't deny she is worth that risk."

"You're braver than I am. After all that business with Aelita losing her memory and nearly dying, I really..." Jeremy cut himself off at the waitress brought our pizzas.

"Here you are. Pepperoni and meat lovers," the girl said.

"Thank you very much," I said politely. She grinned at me while tucking a bit of hair behind her head shyly. Oh, boy. So this is what this is gonna be. How old was this girl? Sixteen? Seventeen?

"I sincerely apologize when I mention that he's taken," Aelita said, not sounding sorry in the least bit. She looked somewhat put out by this news before walking off without another word. I then grinned at Aelita.

"Territorial?" I questioned.

"Just a little. Like I'm gonna sit here and let anyone make twinkle eyes at you," Aelita said, grabbing a bite of pizza. I couldn't help how wide my grin was.

"This is weird and very disappointing, but I can't deny that I can see you two make each other happy," Jeremy said with a resigned sigh. My expression was a mix of being relieved and slightly concerned.

"So... you're alright with this?" I asked slowly.

"Am I alright? No. That'll take time. But I do accept it," Jeremy said with a sigh. "I just expect you to make her happy."

"Believe me when I say that he did a good job of that before. So he'll more than likely do even better now," Aelita said with a smile.

"This was easier than I thought it was going to be," Odd said before taking a bite of pizza. "I was expecting a lot more."

"Honestly, you were just hoping I was going to make a scene akin to something from a cheesy soap opera. Well, I have more common sense than that. I'd only argue if he didn't make her happy, and it's obvious that he does," Jeremy said, making me smile.

"Thanks man," I said.

"Just try and avoid acting all... couple-like when I'm around. I still need to get used to this," Jeremy said, making me nod in agreement. I then looked at Franz.

"What do you think about all this?" I asked him.

"I missed out a lot of my daughter's life. Even if you weren't a great match for her, which I can actually see that you are, I would be in no position to tell her who she wanted to date," Franz said.

"That's not your fault," I told him.

"Well, that all depends on your perspective of the situation. But, I suppose not. I blame the agents that forced us into hiding. But they were forced into obscurity when most of them were annihilated. The one thing I will thank XANA for," Franz said.

"XANA took care of that organization?" I questioned.

"Luckily enough. The last tie to the Supercomputer that was left alive is gone," Franz said.

"What about mom? Is she gone too?" Aelita asked sadly.

"Actually, no. Rather, she has moved on," Franz said, making all of us snap our heads at him.

"What do you mean? She's alive?" Aelita asked.

"Over in Switzerland, yes. Remarried, I saw," Franz said, casually taking a bite of food.

"You seem to have taken it rather well," I said with a small frown.

"I had almost a decade to do so. I learned to deal with it," Franz said before looking at Aelita. "If you ever want to see her, I can tell you where she resides."

"How do you know this?" Aelita asked.

"Throughout my time in the internet, I spent more time than just hiding from XANA and giving you and your friends info when I could. A lot of that time was also spent tracking any Supercomputers that didn't belong. I found one belonging to Lowell Tyron, the man she ended up remarrying," Franz said after he swallowed the piece he ate. "He is brilliant in his work, but there was nothing he couldn't make than I didn't learn to tear down."

"Just who was he?" I asked.

"He used to be a partner until his motives proved to be... less than pure. He made his own Supercomputer and even his own sector. But again, there was nothing he made that I didn't learn to tear down while I was trapped on Lyoko." The tone of voice that Hopper took was different. Because now his voice shook with a little bit of anger. It was actually more intimidating than anything XANA could do.

"So are all loose ends taken care of? I don't mind knocking a few more heads together to ensure we're finished. I want to know that when we're done, we're done," I said seriously.

"No, that should be it. He doesn't have the resources to make another one. Whatever happens as a result is their own business. And since XANA has been destroyed, we have nothing to worry about from him," Franz said casually.

"Let's not bring up the subject of XANA or anything relating to him again. He's gone. Let him stay that way," William said.

"He's got a point. We'll turn off the Supercomputer as soon as we get the chance, then we'll focus on just living our lives," I said before looking to Aelita. "We can go down to visit your mother if you want."

"I mean... Maybe at one point. I'll see her when I'm ready," Aelita said with a resolute nod.

"You sure?" I asked.

"Yeah. At one point, but... not now," Aelita confirmed.

"Alright then. But there are three more problems we have to take care of that don't involve XANA," I said taking a bite of food.

"And those are..." Jeremy trailed.

"Number one: Yumi's parents still think Aelita and me are brother and sister," I said, making everyone who wasn't Franz cringe.

"Oh, boy. Have fun explaining that one," Odd said.

"It's going to suck, I know. Son of a bitch," I said, shaking my head.

"Hold up. You deliberately let the school know you two weren't brother and sister, but you let Yumi's parents believe it. What, did you have plans to date her even back then?" Ulrich questioned. I opened my mouth with a finger raised, but then I realized that he kind of hit the nail directly on the head. So I closed my mouth while scratching the side of my face with an expression that showed the fact that I was caught.

"Even then?" Aelita said, looking at me. "Seriously?"

"Nowhere near as serious as now. But... you know... I did think you were cute," I said, feeling my face heat up.

"What, and I counted for nothing?" Yumi said with a teasing grin.

"On the risk of Aelita killing me if I say what I thought, yes," I said, making Yumi laugh and Aelita playfully swat me on the arm.

"I'm fairly certainly it was nothing innocent," Yumi said, still grinning.

"You're not wrong," I said, trying to kill my blush. It was not easy.

"And you say I'm bad," Odd said with a grin.

"I'm bad. You're horrible," I told him.

"Odd, you are. And this is coming from me," William said, looking at him with a deadpanned expression.

"What do you mean by that?" Franz asked.

"To put it quite simply, Odd is a Casanova," I said.

"You're one to talk!" Odd exclaimed.

"I turn heads, but I don't date every head that turns. That's in your description," I said, pointing at him.

"Hey, I'm just that good," Odd said with a cocky grin.

"More like just that annoying. The poor girls have to date you just get you to stop asking," Yumi said dryly, making all of us laugh.

"Let's move past that. There are problems to solve," Jeremy reminded us.

"Right, right. Well, I guess I'll just have to come clean. We lied about being brother and sister because if they had the slightest indication that we were together, they would refuse and we would have nowhere to go," I said.

"I'll save you the trouble and just say that I told you to lie about it. I don't mind taking the bullet for that one," Yumi said, taking a bite of a piece of pizza.

"You sure about that?" Aelita asked. "I really don't want you to get in trouble for us."

"I don't mind. The most they'll give me is a small punishment. At the very least, a stern talking to about how I could learn to trust them a little more," Yumi said, waving a dismissive hand.

"Alright, that's problem one. Problem two, and this involves you Franz," I said, turning to the man in question. "How are you going to smooth things over so you can legally claim Aelita as your daughter?" His eyes widened as he look at Aelita before looking at me.

"I honestly did not think of that," Franz said.

"Ah, you see? Luckily, I've thought of this a little. But it involves a waiting period," I told him.

"If I've waited this long, I can afford to wait a little more. What do you have in mind?" Franz asked.

"Depends on how fast I can fabricate these records. I'll have to make them before we turn the Supercomputer off. Here's the deal. We print some records of your requirements that don't look prehistoric, give it a few days so it seems legit, and then you find a job here. Now the school knows that Franz Hopper used to teach at Kadic. They know that. _But,_ they don't know that you had a young daughter. So the story is that you had a daughter relatively late and couldn't take care of her yourself because you had some top secret research to focus on. Aelita only talked about her father to just us, so no one would know anything about him to challenge that. If things go over well, you'll be able to continue where you left off," I explained.

"Just one question. What exactly would be in the records?" Franz asked.

"Your name is Waldo Franz Schaeffer, a trained computer specialist going on for thirteen years now. You were outsourced by the American government to aid in advanced computer research, and the requirements of the job involved you moving to where you couldn't take care of your daughter. You and your wife were married for twenty four years, and you two eventually divorced as a result of the long distance. The both of you decided to leave Aelita at Kadic, and I'm sure people can fill in the blanks from there," I explained.

"And how long did it take you to figure this out?" Aelita questioned.

"How long did it take for us to get here?" I asked.

"Like, seven minutes?" Odd questioned.

"So I would say I thought about it in about five," I said casually.

"You really know how to think up stuff on the fly, don't you?" Aelita said with a grin, making me smile back.

"I'm just that good, Princess," I said, putting my hands behind my head.

"It's quick thinking, yet it sounds very effective," Franz said thoughtfully.

"Try it. It could very well work," I said, taking a sip of soda.

"It very well could. You know, I'm glad my daughter met someone like you," Franz said, making me smile.

"I'm glad you approve. Though even if you didn't, I'd still date her," I told him. If anything, he just smiled wider.

"At least I know you're serious about this," Franz said.

"Of course I am," I said with a nod.

"By the way, what was that third problem?" Aelita asked.

"Oh," I said, putting what little was left of my piece of pizza down. "Yumi, two seconds?"

"What for?" Yumi asked.

"Remember that discussion we had a couple of months back?" I said, making her eyes widen.

"Yeah. That needs to be discussed," Yumi said, standing up. Everyone looked at me curiously, and I made a hand gesture to assure them I had this all in line before walking to a more private section.

"As soon as we shut down that computer, you need to have a talk with Ulrich," I said as soon as we were out of earshot.

"You don't waste time, do you?" Yumi said in a dry tone.

"I suggest you go ahead and talk to him before he does decide to and date someone. With XANA gone, like me, he won't have a reason to beat around the bush. Talk to him, tell him why you acted the way you did, and then you kiss him senseless. Speaking from my experiences, that third one oughta seal the deal," I told her, making her laugh.

"That's because you prefer a direct approach to everything," Yumi said.

"You damn right. Less miscommunication that way. When we shut down the computer, talk to him. Cause you two deserve each other, and I mean that for better or worse," I said kindly.

"You are the best," Yumi said with a smile.

"Oh, trust me darling. I know," I said with a cocky grin while pretending to adjust a tie. "Just as long as we're clear."

We then walked back to the table without a word, and everyone looked at us questioningly even though we casually went back to eating.

"So... what were you two talking about?" Odd asked as casual as Odd could possibly ask.

"You'll find out later on. We just had something to discuss," I said.

"How long is later on?" Odd asked.

"Like end of the day later," I told him.

"I can work with that," Odd said. Then Aelita looked at me and smiled, making me do the same.

"You two are something else together," Ulrich said, smiling widely.

"We are. But I like it," I said with a grin. I ended up looking at Jeremy and the saddened look in his eyes wiped it from my face. "I don't mean to..."

"I know you don't. But it's just like I said. It's going to take time to get used to," Jeremy said before smiling. And I could tell it was genuine. "It's bittersweet for me. I can tell how happy you two are with each other."

"We are. I really do like him," Aelita said with a wide smile.

"This thing with the Supercomputer... Once it's turned off... that won't affect our relationship as friends, right?" Jeremy asked hesitantly.

"Of course not. Why would you even think that?" I asked.

"Because this whole thing with the Supercomputer is what even brought us together," Jeremy suddenly said.

"I've been thinking about it too. That the Supercomputer is the entire reason that we were even together as friends in the first place. I thought about it too. Once the Supercomputer is off, who's to say everything won't change?" Ulrich asked.

"Things _won't_ change. The only difference is that XANA is gone and Franz is free. We're all friends until the end. That will never change," I assured them. "If you think I'm going to let you walk out of my life at this point, you're crazy enough for a mental institution."

"I know I'm not cutting ties just because that stupid computer virus is gone. I'm here forever," William said with a grin.

"And I hope you don't think you'll be getting rid of me," Odd said with a wide grin.

"We've tried many times before. I doubt we'll be successful now," Ulrich said in a flat tone making everyone laugh.

"Many of the friends that I have are either dead or think I am," Franz cut in suddenly. "I would certainly hold on to any of them that you have, no matter how you came to be friends. All that matters is that you _are_ friends."

"And that is exactly what we shall do," I said with a nod. Then I finished off the last of my pizza. "We can save the rest for later. Let's go ahead and take care of this computer."

"I agree," Franz said, standing to his feet.

"But there's still pizza left," Odd said, gesturing to the food in question.

"Then get a to go box," Aelita said flatly.

"Give me one sec," Odd said with a sigh before standing up and walking to the front. I took one look at the pizza and grabbed an extra slice.

"You never stop eating, do you?" Yumi questioned with a grin. I didn't respond as my mouth was full. But my eyes twinkled in amusement.

* * *

"Here we are," I said, placing a hand on the computer. "This is it." We had already taken care of Franz's record, and this was the last thing left to do.

"It's weird, but even though you've said it would like, millions of times, I never thought this day would come," Yumi said.

"It has though. And it's time to finally time to cut the computer off," Jeremy said.

"I've been hoping this day would come for years," Franz said, staring at the computer.

"So, what do you think? Should we all do it at the same time?" Aelita asked.

"May as well. We've all been in this together. May as well finish it together," I said as I put a hand on the switch to turn it off. Then it was joined by Aelita's. Then Yumi's. Then Ulrich. Odd was next. Then Jeremy. And then William. But I noticed Franz didn't put his hand on it.

"We're waiting on you," I told him.

"I thought..."

"You were one of the first people involved in this fight. It's only right," I said, the others nodding in agreement.

"Come on dad. You were the one who made the program to finish him. You deserve to be here," Aelita said with a smile. Franz smiled brightly at his daughter before placing a hand on the switch. All at the same time, we pulled the switch. With a loud, yet dull powering down noise, the entire area around us began to shut down. Even the lights. The room was quiet, and the shutdown was very anti climatic, but the deed was done. The Supercomputer, after over a year of fighting XANA, was finally turned off. Honestly, it was a year too long.

"It's done. It's finally over," Aelita said with a sigh, making me put an arm around her shoulder.

"I know. But we earned this," I said.

"Goodbye Lyoko. You were fun while you lasted," Odd said.

"I'm not gonna lie. I'm going to miss going back there. You felt... different while on Lyoko. You didn't feel normal. You felt cooler," Ulrich said.

"Yeah. I'll miss it too," I said before grabbing Aelita's hand. "But I'll enjoy focusing on this even more."

"Me too," Aelita said, putting her head on my shoulder.

"He's right. I'll be glad for the peace," Yumi said.

"All of us will. We fought the good fight, now it's time for us to live free," Jeremy said with a nod as he stared at the deactivated generator.

* * *

"I've also been meaning to ask. What were you and Yumi talking about? You said we would find out later," Odd said. Franz went into town to see if he could find a job. Just for the fact that Kadic didn't need a new teacher. So he was likely going to be busy with that for a good while.

"Stare at Yumi and Ulrich for a moment," I said, making everyone do exactly that. I then began to tick my fingers for a countdown.

"Ok, what exactly am I..." He was cut off as his jaw dropped when Yumi grabbed Ulrich and kissed him full on the lips. I grinned for two reasons. One, it was about damn time. Two, my finger ticking was perfectly timed when Yumi kissed him.

"Oh, man. I am too good," I said, pretending to dust myself off.

"Wait, that was your doing?" Aelita asked.

"I've done some work behind the scenes, talking to the two of them. So you could say I was a big influence," I said with a proud smile.

"If you managed to get those together after beating around the bush, then you are good," William said.

"Oh, I had a feeling they would've ended up that way anyway. But they would've taken ages. And I was not going to accept that," I said.

"They're certainly taking ages to come up for air," Jeremy said dryly because the two of them were still kissing.

"There was more romantic tension between those two than Maxwell and Fran from The Nanny," I said.

"That sounds like a romantic comedy," Odd said.

"More of a comedy. Niles was my main reason for watching it, cause he was the master of throwing shade. Still a very interesting show," I said.

"Lemme guess. Doesn't exist here?" Aelita questioned.

"A lot of them don't. I tried searching for them. No trace of the good stuff," I said with a shake of my head. "I have a lot of work to do. If I can fight an AI, I can revolutionize the world with amazing things."

"If you can get people to date your crazy ass, you can do anything," Odd said, making me grin even wider.

"Took the words right out of my mouth," I said.

* * *

A/N: I'll cover a few more chapters in the current state of affairs, but then we're going to have some time jumps. We're going to have one more subplot to everything, and then I'll wrap things up with an epilogue. Stay tuned. We still got ways to go. Also, the whole thing with the Supercomputer and everyone having their issues turning off was because turning it off could possibly mean their friendships just evaporate. And I think I addressed that already.


	50. Chapter 50 - Double Date

"I cannot believe you talked me into this," I said.

"What's bad about double dating?" Aelita asked.

"Aside from the fact that it's cliche?" Ulrich said, making me point to him.

"Oh, hush you. We're all new to this whole dating scene except for Robert. And I wouldn't even call Emily much experience," Yumi said.

"For your example, I was good at setting up dates, thank you very much. At least when I had the time," I said in an as a matter of fact tone.

"Of course you did," Yumi said dryly, making me grin and roll my eyes at the same time. The others did the same, minus rolling their eyes. "Where are we heading anyway?"

"There's a fair that's going on, and it looks like we're going in that direction," Aelita said.

"You are absolutely correct," I said, kissing her on the cheek.

"At least there will be plenty of stuff to do there," Yumi said. "I'm not getting on a ride."

"What, are you scared Yumes?" I said with a teasing smile. She gave me her famous death glare, and if anything, my grin only got wider.

"You're either really brave or really masochistic to be able to smile at that death glare," Ulrich said.

"Probably both," Aelita said dryly.

"Her death glare is more adorable than dangerous. And I'm too amazing to be maimed, so I have no fear," I said with a grin.

"You wanna bet?" Yumi said, maintaining the glare. I laughed, and seconds later, her stare relented with a shake of her head. "You are something else, you know that?"

"You are just now realizing this?" I said with a grin.

"Not just realizing it. Just confirming it," Yumi said as we stepped in front of the fair.

"Lemme guess. Double date," the guy at the stand said. He looked to be in his twenties.

"How'd you guess?" I asked dryly.

"It's either that, one couple, families, or a big group of friends. I have had yet to meet to see a brother take her sister here or something revolves around family without parents," the man said.

"So basically you're very observant as to who comes in because you have nothing else to do," I said.

"That sums it up perfectly," the man said with a grin. "Four tickets is twenty bucks."

"I got it this time. For once, let me chip in for something," Yumi said, pulling out her wallet. "Let's not cater to the stereotype that men have to pay for everything." That statement made me nearly split my face with a grin.

"Why thank you Yumes," I said with a nod. "It's nice not being the one to always spend money."

"Your girlfriend's something else," the man said, taking the money.

"Got it backwards man. This is my girlfriend," I said, putting an arm around Aelita with a grin.

"She's mine," Ulrich said, doing the same with Yumi.

"Oh. Huh," he said, before handing us each a ticket. "Enjoy the fair."

"Try not to die of boredom," Ulrich said, making the man laugh lightly.

"I'll certainly try," he said.

"Now, where do you wanna go?" I asked Aelita.

"Let's try a couple of rides. That one there looks decent," she said, pointing at a ride called New Heights.

"I'd rather avoid the rides," Ulrich said.

"Vertigo?" I questioned, and he nodded. "That's fine. Just meet by the food court in a few minutes." The two of them nodded before Aelita pulled me over towards the ride."

"You do realized if I get to freaked, I'm going to grab you," Aelita said.

"You're going to grope me? You won't hear me complain," I said with a grin before she whacked me on the arm.

"Can you keep it under control for one minute while we're alone?" Aelita asked in an exasperated tone, but didn't pull away when I pulled her close.

"With you? Nope," I said with a grin before pulling her into a kiss. I quickly felt her respond before she wrapped her arms around my neck. I heard her give off a sound of pleasure when I deepened the kiss. My right hand then started to slowly trail down the side of her body.

"We move for thirty seconds and this is what you're doing," Ulrich said dryly. Me and Aelita pulled apart, and we saw that Ulrich and Yumi were staring at us.

"To defend what little innocence I have, he started it," Aelita said.

"Doesn't mean you have to agree," Yumi said.

"If you knew, you'd know why I do agree," Aelita said.

"It's in my bio to assert myself as a guy who can't keep his lips off his girl," I said.

"Yes, but twenty three out of twenty four hours of the day is a bit much," Ulrich said flatly. "Most of the time, we save that for private time."

"Who wants to wait?" Aelita said, making me grin.

"She's so much like me. I love it," I said.

"Oh, that's quite obvious from here," Yumi said dryly.

"Alright, we'll get on the ride," I said with a roll of my eyes before me and Aelita walked towards the ride. Maybe it was nice to have a little shame, but as things stand at this moment, I have absolutely none.

The ride itself was your typical rollercoaster; it was a set track with all kinds of twists and turns. It definitely got my heart pumping, and in a fun way that I liked. Lacking the fear that would've most likely been there had I not spent over a year fighting of an AI and nearly dying in the process twice.

 _"Happy thoughts. We don't need this taking a grim turn,"_ I thought as we fully stepped off. But Aelita was still clinging to me, so I spoke aloud. "You ok?"

"That was so exciting I can barely walk straight," she said with a grin. Now I understood why she was holding on.

"You weren't scared?" I questioned.

"After what we've been through? It's a little hard for me to be truly scared by anything," Aelita said.

"Same here. Now we just have the..."

"Excuse me, but did you two perform at the Subdigitals concert?" a voice said, and we were suddenly approached by another couple, judging by their clasped hands.

"We did," Aelita said.

"And I can see you're on a date," the girl said with a grin as she looked at us holding hands.

"Yes. And if you don't mind, please make your point so we can get back to that," I said with a polite tone. I wasn't trying to be rude. I just wanted to get back to... ahem... business with my girlfriend.

"We just wanted to know if you two plan on doing more shows like that," the guy said.

"We do. We're into music for the long run. Just not right now at this moment," Aelita said with a pointed look.

"If you both do more things like that, the two of you could be stars," the girl said with a bright smile.

"That's where we plan we're going for," I said, the idea bringing a smile to my face.

"You'll definitely make it," the guy said with a bright smile before a phone was passed in his hand. "My girlfriend came over here wanting a picture, so do you mind?" I looked at Aelita, and she shook her head. I didn't mind too much myself either. Which was unusual for me cause I usually hate taking pictures.

"Sure. Why not?" I said before putting an arm around Aelita, and unlike most situations, I didn't need to force a smile. Considering who I had under my arm, leaning on my shoulder with a bright smile, it did wonder for my ability to actually smile for the camera.

We rode on a few more rides after we took the pictures before meeting up in the food court. I gave Yumi and Ulrich pointed looks when both of their hairstyles were more disheveled than normal. And they had the nerve to judge me. I still grinned though.

"Wanna hear something crazy?" Aelita asked.

"Probably won't surprise me," I said as me and Ulrich sat down with food in our grasps. I grabbed a big platter of nachos for me and Aelita, while he grabbed wings for him and Yumi. We all already grabbed our own drinks.

"You wanna bet?" Aelita questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"Hit me," I said, taking a sip of my soda.

"If Ulrich was unavailable, you would've been the next one Yumi would've came after," Aelita said casually making me and Ulrich's eyes widened. I swallowed a bit of my drink too fast, and I didn't spit it out, but I did end up coughing uncontrollably right after. Both her and Yumi were grinning wide while I was blinking out tears.

"Oh, ha ha. Good joke. Not gonna lie. It did surprise me," I said with a roll of my eyes once I recovered.

"Wasn't a joke," Yumi said evenly, looking me dead in the eye. My eyes widened again.

"Seriously?" I questioned.

"Besides Ulrich, you were the only guy I remotely liked, much less tolerated. Everyone else at Kadic was kinda shallow," Yumi said, grabbing a wing.

"What about Odd?" I questioned with a cheeky grin.

"He's like a brother, but considering I have only Hiroki to compare, that's not necessarily the greatest example," Yumi said with a wide grin, making us all laugh. I then looked to Ulrich.

"I know what you're going to ask. No, I didn't really look at Aelita. I figured either you or Jeremy was going to lock her down. Not gonna say I would say no if she asked," Ulrich said with a bright grin, making both girls roll their eyes.

"Personally, I did see you two hooking up after Emily was out of the picture. Besides the fact that she had almost a personal vendetta against her even when you didn't. After all, you two are very similar," Aelita said.

"How so?" Yumi asked.

"For one, you're both stubborn as hell. It's a good thing you two never fight, because it'd be like World Wars if you did. You're both stubborn as hell," Aelita said.

"I am not!" me and Yumi said at the same time, causing us to look at each other.

"You both have got a fondness for black clothing," Ulrich noted.

"Black is-" We cut each other off as we began talking at the exact same time. Both Aelita and Ulrich grinned wider.

"You both have a serious love of kicking ass," Ulrich also said.

"It's what I- Can you stop doing that?!" we said at the same time, making Ulrich laugh loudly while Aelita fell into a pit of giggles. We both sighed in an exasperated fashion while shaking our heads.

"Besides, your security is enough to match Yumi's insecurity," Aelita said, taking a sip of her drink.

"What do you mean by that?" I asked before crunching on a chip.

"Because as we all know, Yumi has a habit of feeling threatened when any girl bumps into any of her relationships with. Platonic or romantic. No offense Yumes," Aelita said kindly before Yumi opened her mouth.

"We're aware of this," Ulrich said, causing Yumi to glare at him. He just grinned apologetically.

"But the thing with Robert is that he absolutely knows what he wants. And he has no issue reminding people of that fact," Aelita said with a fond smile.

"I made out with her in front of all of the cafeteria so all girls got the hint I was taken. Jeremy was in his room, so it's not like I felt guilty doing it," I said with a shrug.

"Anyway, I could see that a girl would try and come onto you, you'd tell her you were taken, but Yumi would glare at her in a way that would scare death itself. She'd be broody, you'd grab her, hold her close and tell her she has nothing to fear. She'd soften in your arms from hearing how sincere your are and then kiss you," Aelita explained, making all three of us frown slightly as I lowered my glass slowly. She thought about this a little TOO much.

"Um... you got something to tell me?" I asked.

"Well, let's call it a false prediction that I made. And spent a little too much time thinking about it," Aelita said.

"More like a lot. Yumi's amazing, but _you. You_ I know like the back of my hand. _You_ I feel a deep connection to. Trust me, once upon a time it might've happened, but not in this timeline," I explained to her, holding her hand in mine. And those three words were right on the tip of my tongue. But no. Not here. They felt right to say, but... I don't know what was holding me back.

"You're also hopelessly sweet beyond that rough and tough exterior," Aelita said with a smile before kissing me on the cheek.

"And that sweetness is usually squashed by how horny he is," Yumi said dryly.

"Hey, if I like it, I tend to..." I gave Aelita a suggestive look while looking at her up and down. She blushed when I licked my lips. _"...overindulge."_

"Calm down. People eat on this table," Yumi said dryly, making us all grin.

"Alright, I'll squash my lust for now. This'll definitely work. How about we discuss Ulrich and Aelita in a relationship?" I questioned, making Ulrich roll his eyes as I grinned cheekily.

"Is it that horrifying?" he questioned.

"No. If it's not me sucking the moisture off her lips, I'm not the biggest fan," I said casually as Aelita turned even more red.

"Your brilliant imagery never fails to astound," Ulrich said dryly, making me chuckle.

"Alright, alright. For real though. In all honesty, I think you two would do really well," I said.

"Seriously?" Aelita asked.

"Yeah. I mean, the thing with Ulrich is that he does tend to brood when something really hits home, but I know Aelita. She has this insatiable instinct that lets her know when something's bothering someone and she will press with all the kindness of an angel, but the firmness of steel itself. I'd say it's a good counter," I explained.

"As for Ulrich? Beyond the broody mood, there's a bit of passion behind there. Speaking if Aelita hadn't really met Robert, or I guess even if she still did, that passion could break that somewhat shy exterior. She'd still be Aelita, but she'd still not be afraid to show what Aelita is all about. So yeah. You two could work," Yumi explained.

"I think just about all of us in relationship could work, as weird as that might sound. It would just take time and effort. Some more than others," Aelita said, bringing the proverbial elephant that's been in our group for the past couple of days.

"Yeah. Still, I have no regrets," I said.

"Neither do I," Yumi, Ulrich, and Aelita said. We rode out the rest of the meal in a mutual and thoughtful silence.

* * *

"After making the Supercomputer, I suppose teaching at a University is below my standards, but it's better than nothing," Franz said.

"I'm just glad you found something dad," Aelita said.

"Me too. But until I get a decent paycheck, I'll be using the factory as my living space. I don't mind all that much," Franz said as he sat up from the little cot he was sitting on. "Something you wanted to ask me?"

"We mostly wanted to just visit you, but I do have one question," I said.

"Ask away," Franz said.

"How was I able to deactivate towers on Lyoko? And I was able to restore Aelita's memory as well without your help, or at least to my knowledge I didn't have your help," I told him. A thoughtful expression crossed his face.

"I have purely guesswork. But my guess is that because you didn't come to this dimension in the real world and you arrived through Lyoko, it's possible Lyoko saw you as another key keeper," Franz said.

"Another keeper of the keys? But... didn't you specifically design it to where you and Aelita were the only ones?" I questioned.

"Not necessarily. I designed it to where the first transfer subjects would hold the keys. There might be different abilities, but the ultimate ability to access Lyoko's mainframe would be the same. Since you were tied to the keys, it's only reasonable that you would've had the ability to restore her memory as well," Franz explained. "It's only guesswork. Very on the fly guesswork, but..."

"It does still make sense," I said with a thoughtful expression.

"In many ways, your arrival here benefited to many things. Not just what you could do through Lyoko, but what you could do for everyone that will have a life long meaning. Friends. Relationships the case of you two," Franz said with a twinkle in his eyes that made the both of us smile. "Not only am I asking you to take care of my daughter. I'm asking you both to take care of each other."

"After everything we've been through, you'd have to break us apart for us not to do that," I told him. "It hasn't changed the last time you asked, and it never will."

"I just want you both to be certain," Franz said kindly. Fatherly. The voice made me smile wider. "So what did you both do today?"

"Went to the fair. We had a fun time. We also took some pictures. And I think I'm slowly getting over pictures," I said with a shake of my head.

"You look so cute in pictures," Aelita said.

"I don't do cute," I said with a pointed look.

"Now you do," Aelita said with a grin as she fondly patted my cheek. I moved her hand off my face with a shake of my head.

"Still no," I said. I was still grinning.

"What pictures did you take?" Franz asked.

"I never thought I would carry wallet pictures, but you never say never I suppose," I said, taking out my wallet.

One of the pictures was one of the four of us smiling with our arms around each other. Another was one with me and Aelita in the middle of a kiss. Was the picture cheesy? Yes. Still loved it.

Another was me and Ulrich with the both of us bunny earring each other, but to add another layer of nerd, we were both raising the Vulcan salute. I regretted nothing. And the last one I took was one with Yumi. I had an arm around her waist and she had one around mine, the both of us were smiling wide. But our free hands were out in front of us in a kung fu "come here" type of pose. It was a pose we both readily agreed on.

"The others took some photos of their own as well, but those are the ones I took. Before that... this was the only one I had in my wallet," I said, showing him the picture of all of us in front of the factory, arms around each other with wide grins. It was the one I was given to on Christmas. Just made in a smaller format.

"You've got you some lifelong friends," Franz said, staring at the photos as I flipped through them.

"Yes. We do," Aelita said as we shared a smile.

* * *

A/N: Alright, now things will stop being a continuation and we're going to flash forward a couple years next up. There's not to much I can fill in other than dates and other people watching how the group functions without having to deal with XANA. We're not going to get straight into what I have planned, but we are coming up on it. I hope you guys enjoy that.


	51. Chapter 51 - Another Loose End

"Why, don't you look handsome?" Aelita said.

"I know," I said with a grin. She giggled before swatting me on the arm. I straightened the graduation cap on my head putting my hands on Aelita's shoulders so I could look at her better. "You don't look so bad yourself. Not better than me, but good."

"Excuse me if I disagree," Jeremy said with a grin.

"Thank you Jeremy. An officer and a gentlemen you are," Aelita said with a smile before looking to me. "You said that came from a movie?"

"It's the title of one. Never seen it. Just heard of it," I told her.

"Everyone, get in line please! Get in order!" Mrs. Hertz exclaimed, gesturing her hand so everyone would form up. There were students in between us every so often, but Jeremy was ahead of each of us followed by Odd, then me, then Ulrich, and Aelita was behind him. Sissi then had to squeeze in right behind Odd because she was trying to 'fix herself up.' Honestly, I would never understand what is it with girls and 'fixing themselves up.' It's graduation, not church.

Yumi and William had already graduated the year before, and she was actually studying photography down in an American college while William didn't bother with further schooling. He was satisfied with his job as a mechanic. It was only a year after XANA was destroyed that we learned he had an affinity with machinery. At least the kind that involved engines. But they both said they would be down here for today.

Then they started to call names. Jeremy was one of the first few people called, and then we all had to hear the long list of scholarships, his talents technology wise, and accomplishments that he racked up. One of which included valedictorian. Honestly, the guy did more bonus point assignments than any of us. So that wasn't much of a surprise.

Odd was up next, and considering he didn't have XANA as much of an excuse, he pulled up his grades to where he didn't considering getting a C as an accomplishment. The years prior... his grades weren't in the shitter per say, but they weren't great either. Just enough to get by. He didn't fill out that many scholarships, but honestly, his parents were going to pay for his school anyway.

Sissi was directly after Odd, and her grades were more like Odd's. Initially, there weren't horrible by any means, but they weren't great. But she wasn't really interested in having good grades. Just going to cosmetology school. That does not surprise me all that much.

I was up next, and while I didn't get valedictorian like Jeremy rightfully deserved, I had plenty of other extracurricular stuff to make up for it. It kept track of my music talent, the two track championships I had won since XANA went down. Yes, I picked up track as something to do on the side when XANA disappeared.

And like Jeremy, they took note of the fact that I was good with technology. Honestly, I think I might've gone deaf from all the cheering. I think it might've had something to due with the fact that I did more performances that the Subdigitals gave me and Aelita, and they were introduced to more songs. I haven't introduced Disturbed. Not yet. One day though.

It was great for scholarships as well. I had some for music, track, and academics. I would have plenty of spending money in the bank no matter what school I went to. And that, by all intents and purposes, was worth going to college.

Ulrich was next, and he did much better than Odd when it came to improving his grades. He graduated with honors like me and Jeremy and more than likely Aelita. Not only were his grades good, but he was able to focus more on soccer, and at the very least, his father seemed to have been satisfied. At the very least he said he was proud of him for finally getting his act together. Ulrich seemed to accept it, but I ended up rolling my eyes. He could've done more to try to help him instead of just lecturing him. It would've gotten in the way of XANA, but the point still stands.

And then Aelita was next. I gave her a wide grin as she walked by, and while she didn't turn around fully, I saw her eyes glance towards me. The smile on her face grew more defined. And she had changed in that past few years.

Not attitude wise. It wasn't going to change that she would complete the cycle of being more like me. But no, I'm talking about physically. Even in a graduation gown, like, the girl had curves. Like, damn. Not to mention the others areas she had grown in...

I had to shake my head clear of my thoughts so I could focus on the fact that Aelita had also graduated with honors, her wide talent in music was quite a marvel, and like me and Jeremy(no surprise here), she was great with technology. And she had scholarships in each of the areas.

"It is with great pride I introduce the class of 2008!" Principal Delmas exclaimed, making people make the auditorium fill with applause. I was smiling the entire time as I, along with the rest of the people graduating, threw our caps up in the air like every graduate did when they graduated. It had a strange feeling of satisfaction that came along with it. I didn't understand it.

"Hey guys!" Yumi exclaimed to us, waving as soon as we stepped off the stage. She was with her family as well as William, who were all smiling as well.

"Well, well. Miss Yumi Ishiyama. Haven't seen you in ages. Still looking lovely I see," I said with a smile as I walked up to her.

"Charmer. Nice to see you too," Yumi said, giving me a kiss on the cheek before embracing me for a hug. "Where is he?"

"Directly behind me if he saw you as fast as I did," I said with a smile. "And seeing as how he has about as good eyesight as I do..."

"So you leave me for Robert? What would Aelita think of this?" Ulrich said with a teasing smirk as the both of us turned to face him. I chuckled while Yumi rolled her eyes. She didn't even warrant that statement with a response before she kissed him full on the lips.

"She could hardly wait to see you all, you know," Mrs Ishiyama said, keeping track of Hiroki by holding his hand. I noticed he was pointedly looking away from Yumi's public display.

"Feeling's mutual. It's only been a year, but it felt like it's been ages. I think we must have killed an entire forest of trees exchanging letters," I said with a smile as they finally separated.

"It's not often people keep in contact with those they knew from high school. You must all be close," Mr. Ishiyama said.

"More than any other people I know. These are ties I'm not going to give up easy," I said seriously as I looked at the others.

"That's a sign of a close friendship. Well, except for Aelita. I think there's more than that to it, eh?" Mr. Ishiyama said with a fond look in his eye.

"Very much so. And er... sorry about the misleading thing with her being my sister," I told them.

"You've owned up to that already. Several years ago in fact. I suppose your apprehensions of telling us the truth were understandable, but entirely unnecessary in our case. You two weren't even dating back then," Mrs. Ishiyama said.

"Then I got smacked in the face with how wonderful she is," I said, turning to face her.

"Wonderful? Most teenagers I don't give a girl a gold and emerald necklace for just being wonderful. Wonderful is being kind to describe that," Mr. Ishiyama said.

"Yes, I suppose it is, isn't it?" I said with a fond smile.

"He's the 'go big or go home' kind of guy. He never does things in moderation," Aelita said, walking up to us. "At times it's sweet. At other times it proves he's still a stubborn man underneath."

"Oh, believe me. That's a feeling I know all too well," Mrs. Ishiyama said with a knowing grin.

"Hey, everything we do, we do all for you," I said, Mr. Ishiyama nodding in agreement.

"It's why we don't complain," Aelita said with a grin. I playfully flipped the front of her hair, which she had grew out since the years had passed by, making her giggle. I kinda liked how long her hair was now. It was shoulder length now and straight and smooth. But for it to fit in her graduation cap, she had it tied up in a semi-long ponytail.

"Why would you? Anthea never did," Franz said dryly as he walked up to everyone. I grinned at the statement.

"Ah, so you know," I said.

"Of course I know. I was married for years. So you will know my pain of dealing with a duplicate of Anthea," Franz said with a grin, making Aelita smack her father on the arm.

"Dad!" she exclaimed, making me and the Ishiyamas chuckle.

"You strangers gonna join us?" Odd questioned, waving our way.

"We're coming, we're coming," I said as I gestured everyone to come over. "The Duke of Dinner requests our presence."

"With the way he acts and eats? I was thinking more along the lines of the Fool of Food," Aelita said with a grin as we walked over to him.

"How's college Yumi?" Jeremy asked.

"Great. I never knew there was a lot more than photography than the way you took the picture. There's lighting, angles, effects you have to think about. There's a lot more technical stuff involved than I thought," Yumi said.

"The furthest I get involving technical stuff is working with car engines. There's nothing that fits the kind of technical you're talking about," William said dryly.

"More's the pity for you," Ulrich said with a grin.

"Yeah, yeah. At least I get paid good for it. I'm just glad I didn't have to work today to ask for a day off," William said.

"Speaking of that, I had to schedule my exams early so I could make it here with no problems. To say the least, they were hell," Yumi said.

"To say the least, watch your mouth," Mrs. Ishiyama said with a piercing glare.

"Mom, seriously?" Yumi said with a raised brow.

"Yes, 'seriously.' I can't believe Robert got you into that habit," Mrs. Ishiyama said, turning her glare on to me.

"Saying exams are hell are is being kind. Because we're speaking of the actual place. You want to hear bad? You should've heard me when I found out one of those showman people refused to pay me after an entire night of doing songs. I was like a sailor. Thankfully for him, it didn't get violent. I was gonna get paid one way or another," I explained. Some of those places where I ended up getting shows were kind of shady. I doubt Chris knew though. I doubt he would've set me up otherwise.

"The point still stands, one way or another," Mrs. Ishiyama said.

"Your mother's right. There are just some habits that aren't good to get into," Mr. Ishiyama said.

"What habits?" Jeremy's dad asked, walking up to us with his wife along with Odd and Ulrich's parents.

"Cursing," Mr. Ishiyama said.

"Who's cursing?" Ulrich's dad asked.

"It's a habit that my daughter needs to break," Mr. Ishiyama said.

"Dad, it's not that big of a deal," Yumi said flatly.

"I don't know where in what universe is cursing 'not a big deal' for your age, but..."

"I'm nineteen," Yumi said flatly. "And I take care of myself while I'm in college. Cusswords are just a way of getting my point across."

"In a very rude fashion," Mr. Ishiyama said with a pointed look.

"It's not about the cussword itself. It's the way in which you used it," I said.

"He makes a point," Odd's dad said.

"Still, it's a habit kids at your age shouldn't get in. I mean, we're adults and we don't use cusswords," Mrs. Stern said.

"Everyone is different madam. They're shaped different. They act different. They become different people in general. It's not so much about the person's choice of wording as who they aspire to be. I mean, would you talk to a man who has done brilliant things for mankind, but incorporates cusswords into his sentences?" I questioned.

"What does that have to do with anything?" Mr. Stern asked.

"It's not about what the person says. It's about what they do. A person's actions speak louder than their words, and if their actions dictate they're a good person who does good things, what issues does his language really have on his actions?" I questioned.

"I can't believe you made an argument about cussing that actually makes sense. Aren't teens supposed to be illogical?" Mrs. Ishiyama asked.

"I'm smart for my age," I said with a shrug, hiding a grin. "Now how about we go somewhere to eat?"

* * *

I cracked my neck as I set my bookbag down. Straight into college right after graduation, and the work wasn't that difficult. Though sitting in a classroom for hours on end was still horrible to this day. Still, better to have something to fall back on if the music career didn't work out.

As soon as I set my bookbag down, I grabbed my phone that had just started ringing. I smiled as soon as I saw the caller ID.

"And how are we today?" I asked.

 _"Wishing I was at the apartment. I've got some extra studying to catch up on here at the university. I won't be home for another few hours,"_ Aelita told me.

"Such is the price you pay for getting sick," I said.

 _"If I could've avoided it, I would've. I damn you and your brilliant immune system,"_ Aelita said, making me chuckle.

"I'd give it to you if I could. But we can't all be born this healthy. Not to mention handsome and badass," I said.

 _"Yeah, yeah. You forgot to add grabby, 'Mr. I Love Boobs,'"_ Aelita said with obvious finger quotes around the title.

"I can't help it. I am a boob man, and you grew a serious rack," I said with a grin.

 _"Yeah, yeah,"_ Aelita said dismissively even though I could tell she was grinning. I knew her. _"Be home later. Then I'll be the one getting grabby."_

"Is that a promise?" I said, the tone of my voice lowering an octave.

 _"Oh, you know it is,"_ Aelita said in a seductive tone. Then she chuckled. _"I gotta go. People are looking at me funny now."_

"There's nothing funny about some E rated phone sex," I said, making her laugh.

 _"That's a new one. Would this even count as losing your virginity?"_ Aelita asked.

"Nah. Not dirty enough. But don't worry. When you aren't in a public area, we can change that. Or if you don't mind..." I trailed, letting the suggestion hang in the air.

"Bye _Robert! I swear..."_ Aelita said with a laugh before hanging up the phone. I laughed before putting my phone back in my pocket and then heading to the kitchen. I sat down on the couch with two sandwiches on a plate before looking at the mail I picked up. Some of them included letters from the others.

Yumi was still doing good in school studying her photography. William was still working his job while trying to find dates. Odd seemed to have been trying out for an art school while also putting time into skateboard tournaments. Ulrich stayed in France and was focusing more on a soccer career. If he continued, he might be getting signed for at least the college teams. That would be great.

Jeremy was actually here at the same tech school that we were. He just had a place of his own, so there was no letter of his in this pile. I just had to drive a few miles to go see him, but for now, I'd prefer to just relax.

 _"Driving, college, our own places to live. It's hard to imagine that we're actually living a normal life,"_ I thought with a fond smile as I sat here. _"And man, does it feel great."_

At one point, while I was lying down, my eyes eased closed. It wasn't because of sleep though. Because when I woke up, it wasn't in my apartment. It wasn't back at my college either. Actually... it wasn't any place I had ever been.

"Extraction successful," someone said, making me freeze as I managed to finally sit up. It was impossible because my head seemed to have been held down. I could only move my eyes, and I saw doctors as well as soldiers and a man in a suit. My apprehension only grew.

"Welcome back to the land of the living, Mr. Morgan. It certainly means something that you survived where you went," the man in the suit said, making me glare at him. Looks like I was back in my dimension. And I was not happy the way I came back.


	52. Chapter 52 - Experiments 63, 43, and 47

A/N: From here, I'm just throwing curve balls. From here on out, things just turn from traditional XANA stuff to more of some science fiction shit. Still, I had plans to work with this story line, and I'm gonna work with it. The story shouldn't last much longer after I'm done with it though.

* * *

I stared at the man in a suit with a hard glare. He was just standing there with a pleased smile on his face, seemingly unaware that I wanted to strangle him here and now. But I couldn't do anything considering my arms and legs were bound to the table. I eyed the various tools that were lying on a tray next to me.

There was a heart monitor, surgeon tools, a defibrillator. Many things that a doctor would need in an operation. And it was all here. So it seems they were trying to keep me alive while I in the Lyoko universe. The problem is, there were definitely some things they would've been unable to save me from. Like XANA frying me like Popeyes chicken.

"You've been doing quite a bit of things. The doctors had to restrain your body cause you often got up and started swinging and moving like you had a sword in your hands. There were also quite a few factors of changed emotions, fatal wounds that healed on their own, and other things. What did you see?" the doctor asked me.

I had a fleeting thought of telling the doctor to fuck off, but I didn't for a couple of reasons. One, this could've just been some strange accident and they were trying to help me out. It wasn't likely, but it was possible. Two, their cooperation was perhaps the best chance I had of going back. So I would cooperate as well as I could.

"Heard of the TV show Code Lyoko? I ended up there," I told him.

"Ended up implies you were actually there, and that was not the case," the doctor said with no emotion as he continued to scribble on the clipboard he had. My eyes widened.

"There's no way you could tell me that everything I saw there was some sort of hallucination. There's no way," I told him.

"It was some sort of ultra reality hallucination that was a result of a test going extremely haywire. You were one of the people affected by it, and you were one of the few that got out alive," the doctor said. I wanted to scream at the bastard for this cause I was beyond angry, but the last part of his sentence gave me pause.

"Wait... what do you mean I was one of the few that got out alive?" I questioned.

"You were not the only one affected, and others were trapped in some alternate reality as well. Either they ended up somewhere far more deadly, or you happened to adapt to where you were a lot faster than they did. Either way, they were killed. And it's rather unfortunate," the doctor said with all of the emotion of a robot. I growled.

"You sound real torn up about it," I said, the growl still in my voice.

"It's not my job to be torn up about it. It's my job to try and save all the people I can in the process. Thankfully, you seemingly did not my help," the doctor said. I quelled my temper and tried to calm down. It was not doing much good, but at least I was able to talk with a level tone.

"So what now?" I asked.

"Now? Now you go back to your family. They know of the situation. There are therapy sessions that we will provide if you need to cope with what happened," the man in the suit suddenly spoke up.

"The only thing I need to cope with is the thought of losing a loved one as well as friends. And yes, I know that they know. I could hear you." I said this statement deliberately, and I was not disappointed in my reactions. The soldiers looked at each other, the man in the suit raised an eyebrow, and the emotionless doctor looked up from his clipboard.

"How?" the man in the suit asked.

"Oh, every once in a while I got these... moments of clarity. Still say that what happened to me was just a hallucination?" I questioned with a raised brow. I didn't really know if it was or wasn't, but all I knew is that if people believe they have you in a position of power, they'll try to sell every lie they can on you. And I refuse to believe that the friends that I loved were simple mere hallucinations. That was something I didn't want to believe unless forced to.

But the demeanor of the man in the suit changed quick. His expression changed from this professional hospitality to this cold look in seconds. And in turn, mine was on in a split second flat.

"It would've been easier if you had just kept your mouth shut," he told me.

"You obviously don't know me then," I said, moving against my restraints to try and get out. But they wouldn't budge. "What happened to me was obviously no accident. The thing I want to know is why did you pick me."

"We needed subjects; people that wouldn't be missed if you came up missing. You were a slight fork in the road, because even though you had a rather... secluded nature, your family still went high and low looking for you. They are apprised of the situation, and you could've gone back to see them if I knew you were willing to keep your mouth shut," the man in the suit explained in a cold tone.

"Again, not my style," I said back, my tone more cold than his.

"Kill him. Easy to chalk his death up to a mishap," he said, my eyes widening as I looked at the doctor. He was already flicking a syringe full of liquid, as if expecting this outcome.

I looked around me rapidly to see if there was anything I could use to help my escape, but I couldn't do anything given how I had no access to my hands or feet. I was good and trapped where I was.

As he began to stick the syringe in my veins, I growled and wanted to lash out at him in any kind of fashion. My Force powers would've been a useful transfer. But that was just on Lyoko, sadly. I doubted they transferred over.

Only as I stared him down, waiting for him to inject me, it never happened. I looked at the syringe and it seems he was struggling to try to inject me with it. I stared long and hard at the shaking arm, and it wasn't because he was in conflict. No, he was actually _trying_ to inject me. But somehow he couldn't.

"What are you waiting for?" the man in the suit questioned.

"I'm... trying," the doctor said through a strained voice. "But it's like something's pushing against me."

"What could you even possibly mean?" the man in the suit asked. While he was confused, I think I may have figured it out. But... I needed to test it. If they somehow _did_ transfer over...

Looking over to a computer console over at the side of the room, I stared at a pair of scissors that were sitting in a jar. I focused on the scissors and moved my fingers in an upward fashion. They started floating, and I had to restrain a smirk. Oh, this was just what I needed.

"Fine. If you can't inject him, then we'll have to settle for the messier option," the man in the suit said, nodding towards the armed guards. My eyes immediately darted to them, and as their guns trained on me, the gunfire never came. Because I was restraining their fingers from pulling the trigger.

"What are you fools doing?!" the man in the suit asked. Then, moving my head slowly over to him, the guns slowly trained on him. His eyes widened as he backed up, but he was backing himself up into a corner. Then his eyes looked at me, and I couldn't restrain my smirk.

"Big mistake sending me there," I said before pushing their fingers forward and keeping them there. I had them keep firing bullets until their mags were empty. I then pushed the soldiers out of the room, locking the door, and lifted the doctor up in a Force Choke. And unlike Lyoko, my powers seemingly weren't limited here. I could feel a lot more freedom in what was doing; a lot more power.

"Unlock these shackles, and you may get to see the light of day again," I said in a low, threatening tone. The doctor's eyes widened before he nodded rapidly at hit a button on one of the consoles once I set him down. I rubbed my wrists as I stood up from the bed and looked around the room. I set the doctor in the bed I was previously lying in and activated the restraints.

I sat down at the computer station that was in the room, but my gaze ended up on the man torn apart by bullets in the corner. I admit, even if I wasn't technically the one to pull the trigger, I was a little unnerved. It felt vastly different from destroying Lyoko monsters. Like, this was actually someone's life I just ended, not some program.

 _"The same person who kidnapped you and a bunch of other people for an_ experiment," my mind reminded me, making me let out a low growl. The whole reason for me ending up at Lyoko was because of him. So in a way, I guess I had to thank him. But he kidnapped a bunch of people, and from what it sounds like, ultimately lead them to their deaths. That was unforgivable.

 _"But there were a few that were still alive,"_ I thought before typing on the computer. Compared to coding on a Supercomputer, their firewalls were nothing. This computer showed all the behaviors I was exhibiting during my slumber.

 _"Subject has revealed to have frequently elevated heart rate and increased movement activity while restrained. This suggests he is in a place where combat or physical feats in general are required,"_ I read mentally.

 _"Multiple cases of heart failure while wounds suddenly appear some days, then suddenly disappear."_

 _"An significantly noticeable increase in muscle and bone mass as well as appearance. Body appears healthier than before as well as an increase in brain activity."_

 _"Final conclusion: The Dimensional Matrix has come to perfection after years of study of our subjects. The ability to choose the dimension the subject is in as well as send the person's entire body in instead of just their mental state has also been perfected. This subject appears to have ended up in an old children's TV show, which explains his more likely chances of survival. Extraction of the subject begins today, and we will convince him of the fact that this was an accident. If not, more permanent solutions need to be considered - Final Log of Experiment #63."_

I finished read the files with a clench of my fist as some of the equipment around me started to crush in my anger. They wanted to see a successful experiment? I would show them one. One that would bring their entire fucking place crashing down.

But then I looked over to the machine that sent me to the Lyoko world. I would still need that when I was done with this situation. And if I tried to leave to tell anyone, they'd likely destroy all the evidence. Including the people that were still alive. So I definitely needed to keep it with me. But there were other people to save and get to safety. It was a simple machine; wouldn't take long to figure out.

But then an alarm went off, and it seemed that my time for lollygagging was over. Those guards I ejected out of the room had likely sounded the alarm that I had gotten out. Great. Would've been nice for my sabers to have transferred over with me. Then I looked at the tools over next to me. I grabbed a bone saw before moving next to the door and then peeking out. I didn't see them, but the sound of marching caught my attention.

Opening the vent above me and hiding the machine to send me back in there, I walked out of the door before summoning two bone shears to my hand. Sticking the handle of the bone saw in the back of my pants, I used the shears to help keep myself on the ceiling when I jumped up to it. I had to try a few times to impale the ceiling hard enough to stay up there, but I eventually got it.

I eyed the soldiers as they walked by. Once they got down the hallway, I let my legs drop before swinging forward and landing in a roll outside of the door on the opposite side of the hallway before taking cover.

As I saw each soldier pool in the room, I noticed there was a console right next to the door. Taking a guess, I summoned both of those bone shears down from the ceiling before pushing the rest of the soldiers in the room and, with a precise toss, embedded both bone shears in the console. The door sealed immediately, but not before I took two guns from the soldiers I knocked in. One for the gun, and the other just for the spare mag.

 _"This is much heavier than I thought it would be. And the mag's big enough to take up my entire pocket size,"_ I thought before shaking my head and just holding the gun aloft. I'd figure it out. No big deal. It was only the first time that I was handling a gun that didn't involve having a controller of some sort in my hands.

There was no time to focus on that I searched the rooms that were near me. I tried the nearest door to me, and it was locked. Mentally holding the doorknob in a Force Grip, I twisted the entire handle before wrenching it off the door. Then I kicked the door open, showing several doctors who were cowering over in a corner. My eyes narrowed, and I was somewhat satisfied to see the fear they were showing increase.

"Where are the other people you've done this to? And don't lie to me. I'll know," I said darkly.

"Subjects 43, 47, 23, 35, and 12. Those are the remaining ones," one of the doctors said immediately. I eyed the doctors before lowering my gun, which I had pointing at the ceiling near my shoulder.

"Don't leave this room. It's either pay for your crimes in prison or someone's paying the funeral director." With that ominous statement floating in the room, I strode out of the room before looking for these hallways that he mentioned. But I immediately had to hide behind cover as gunfire started coming in my direction.

"That's the experiment that broke loose!" one of the soldiers shouted.

"Oh, great," I said aloud in exasperation before moving behind cover and blind firing. Given how I heard a few shouts, I at least injured a couple of them. Then I closed my eyes before raising a Force wall in front of me as I stepped out from behind cover.

I could hear the bullets slow down as they neared the wall, and when I opened my eyes they were floating in front of me. Then I flipped my hands to reverse their direction, and shot some lightning onto them before sending them back.

"Hit the deck!" one of the soldiers yelled before screaming as the bullets gave off a small electrical explosion on impact. Then, cocking my gun, I raised it to where it was just under my chin before firing. My lack of experience with a gun didn't matter when you had the Force on your side. It was still weird how I ended up getting my powers here, but given how I would've been dead without them, I wasn't complaining.

Those I didn't kill with the bullets I fired retreated as some took occasional potshots at me. I continued walking without a care as I was able to dodge the bullets casually or wave them away. It was strange feeling this empowered. This... in control.

 _"I never intended on ever becoming a killer,"_ I thought as I lifted one soldier with the Force. He was still trying to fire at me, and fell seconds later with his neck broken. _"But I will do what I must."_ Then I shook my head. I just unintentionally quoted Obi-Wan. Regardless, no one should ever have to kill. Yet here we were.

Room 47 was the first room I ended up discovering. I pushed the door down before seeing that there was a white guy lying down in the bed, completely still and in restraints. He looked to be completely fine other than the scar over his left eye. It had years of healing, but it would likely be with him until the day he died.

Going over to the machine that held him in such a state, I inputted the signal for him to be released from his slumber. The machine whirred, and the guy slowly stirred from his sleep. By the looks of things, he couldn't have been any older than twenty three.

"Welcome back to the land of the living," I told him as I looked at him.

"Who are you?" he questioned. His tone was curt, crisp, and professional. Yet I could sense an underlying threat in there.

"Someone like you. Pushed into a place they had no business being. Where'd they send you?" I questioned.

"So that wasn't just some sort of bizarre dream..." he trailed before looking to me, going back to his crisp tone. Though the threat in there was gone. "I ended up injected into the shoes of Agent 47's partner." I looked at him in disbelief.

"What, like from Hitman?" I questioned.

"Strange, right? Anyone who knows a damn thing about Hitman knows the agent works alone. Yet I ended up in some kind of dimension where he does take partners. I'm kinda gonna miss him. I've saved his ass a few times, and he's saved mine even more," the man told me. "What about you? Where'd you end up?"

"Code Lyoko, if you know what that is," I told him.

"I don't, unfortunately. But given, if you had to fight for you life a few times like I did, couldn't have been easy," he told me.

"You're definitely right about that," I said as I released his restraints. "No time to think about that though. We need have to get a few more prisoners out before we leave. You take the gun though. You're likely to be a better shot than me anyhow."

"I've got no complaints with that. I preferred stealth, but I still know my way around a gun," the man said, taking it from me. "I'm known as Agent 93 back there, but the real name's Jack. You?"

"Robert. Let's move on," I told him as we continued forward. No guards had shown up in the time I had gone to get the next person, which was Experiment 43.

This one was a Latina girl who looked to be around my age. While I would easily admit that she was attractive as hell, there was only one girl I had intentions on getting grabby with. And she was not in this dimension.

"Jeez, even the women aren't spared in this place," Jack said as I typed on the computer to release her. The minute her eyes opened, the restraints opened without me having to touch them and suddenly me and Jack were thrown back. Then I felt myself being lifted in the air.

 _"Great. An angry telepathic. Just what I needed,"_ I thought as I gave her a firm Force push away from me. Then I raised my hands as a show of surrender. "Relax! We're not the stupid government!"

"How do I know? I can't read your mind," the girl said with her eyes narrowed.

"That's because I'm a practitioner of the Force. You cannot simply read our minds. I doubt his is as protected," I said, jerking my thumb at Jack.

"I hate you," Jack said as her eyes snapped to him and I simply gave him a mocking grin. She seemed to process some information before calming down.

"Ok. You're good," she said.

"Thank you. Now, we could always use the extra help getting out of here, and the skills of a telepathic are always useful," I said.

"I can read the minds of everyone in the place except for you. A lot of people are terrified, some minds are stationary. Seemingly... elsewhere," the girl said.

"That because they're currently in an alternate dimension all of us were. Where'd you end up?" I asked.

"The X-Men universe. I was a member of Xavier's school, and the war had just ended. I thought things were finally going to calm down and I'd be able to live a life with no hassle. That was until I was sent back here. Name's Bonita, by the way," she said, crossing her arms.

"Jack."

"Robert. And if you have your way, you can return if you want. Believe me, I have no intention on staying here either," I told her.

"You don't?" Jack questioned.

"Hell no. I've got college, a career, friends, and the love of a woman waiting for me. Why would I want to stay any longer in a dimension I've been fully cut off from for the past few years when I have all of that waiting for me?" I questioned.

"You make a point. It's just, I thought with your family down here..." Jack trailed.

"They'll make do without me. Besides, I doubt they'll argue when I've been the happiest I've ever been back there. There's no way I'm giving that up," I told them.

"These people of yours must be special," Bonita said.

"Oh, they are. Love them to death. And I would easily give my life for each and every single of them," I said before looking at the door. "Three more prisoners to get. Come on."

* * *

A/N: I'm trying to pace it. I don't want this to run over too long, but I don't want it to end so soon either. Right now, you can see the direction I'm going with this. Bunch of people in the same boat I am, they have different experiences and powers and skills to bring to the table as we try to escape the facility we're trapped in. I'm having fun with the idea of an advanced government plot.


	53. Chapter 53 - More Discoveries

A/N: Be warned: This whole thing is gonna get really trippy.

* * *

"Now we're looking at Experiment 35," I said as we went down the aisles.

"Sounds so clinical when you put it like that," Bonita said.

"Well, until we free them, they're still stuck as one of their 'experiments,'" I said spitefully.

We were still walking down the hall looking for each of the people that were still alive. It was dead useful having a powerful telepathic on our side because she could read their movements and act accordingly. We didn't really have to do anything. Doubted she could still fuck with me. Can't counter what you can't predict.

I opened a door that lead to the next experiment, and this time it was a bearded middle aged white guy lying down. As soon as I brought him out of the dimension he was stuck in, his arms began to be surrounded by a bunch of mist before his eyes popped open. As soon as he looked at me, before I could say a word, his form turned into water before seeping onto to the floor.

"He's got powers too! Of course I'm the only one who doesn't," Jack said.

"Sure. It's not like you're a trained hitman who knows ways to kill someone with every object in a room," I said.

Apparently this was the wrong thing to say, as the the person's liquid form seemed to wrap entirely around Jack and freeze him solid. He reformed in front of him, seemingly intent on hitting his frozen form, but I pulled him towards me and tripped him on the ground.

"Stop for a moment! We need to talk," I told him.

"There's nothing to talk about!" the man said with a small southern accent. He tried to move, but my foot had him pinned.

"Can you pause for a moment so we can focus this unruly attitude on the people actually responsible?" I said, but the guy had just frozen my feet after turning into a liquid form. He went for a hit, but suddenly flew back from Bonita throwing him into a wall. But he managed to hit her with an ice blast on her arm as I broke my foot out of the ice.

"Shit, that's cold!" she exclaimed as she kept him pinned on the wall. "Listen for a moment!"

The guy obviously wasn't in the mood to listen, but given how he was being pinned to the wall by a telekinetic latina, he didn't have much of a choice. His arms were glowing blue, ready to fire a beam of ice. But I opted on something more brutal. I held his arms in a Force Grip, and he stiffened from the sudden sensation.

"If you don't calm down and listen to what we have to say, I'm going to break your arms. Try shooting beams of ice at us that way. You want to calm down?" I questioned, one hand raised as it slowly started to grip.

"Fine! Fine, I'll listen," the guy said.

"Good. Now..." I then released my hold on the guy's arm. "If you listened when we woke you up, you would know that we're all in this together. We're in some kind of... base. I don't know who owns it, but they all gathered us up for some sort of... experiment. You were one of the few people along with us that survived where we went. What's your name?"

"Lee," he said, visibly relaxing more. "You folks Conduits too?"

"Conduits? You mean like in Infamous?" I questioned.

"The very same. I was helping Cole with the cleanup in Empire, then the Beast invaded. Nothing we did could stop it, so we went to New Marais. Was helping Cole with the Militia and tracking down more Blast Cores. I think we were tracking down the third one until I got pulled back. Kinda did me a favor. I know what happens when the Beast gets there," Lee said as Bonita let him go and he stood up straight.

"All Conduits die. Yeah," I said.

"Also, they know that, and the fact Kuo is a Conduit is sending her into major batshit crazy mode. She's nowhere near as composed as canon with that bit of news with the fact that their death is impending as soon as they power the Ray Field Inhibitor. It took Cole to calm her down after this bit of news. And unless I'm mistaken, the two were actually kind of hitting it off as time went on," Lee explained.

"Had a feeling. Kinda disappointed it didn't happen in canon. In any case, we still have two more prisoners to free. Let's get them out," I said, making the others nod.

"If you are curious, I know who this base does belong to," Bonita said, making all of us turn to her. And she took a step back. The expression on my face had to have sharpened. I was told by Aelita I always did that when I heard some news I didn't want to hear.

"Who?" I questioned, my tone having an edge to it.

"I want to know that one myself," Jack said in a growl. I heard a slight noise from his grip intensifying on the gun he was holding.

"I was reading some of the thoughts in this base. It's..." I suddenly paused before turning on my heel and raising my hand right as a bullet stopped in front of her. Along with several more to follow after that. Turning them around, I launched them back at its source.

"Son of a..." Lee turned into a liquid form and traveled across the ground at a fast rate while I simply Force Sprinted around the corner and saw a scientist with a pistol in his hand. Then suddenly his body froze. Not of his own free will, but of _my_ will.

"What is..." He let out a yell as his entire body began to be engulfed by ice except his head before Lee appeared in front of him, his black eyes ironically looking like chips of ice. I then turned his body as I looked him in his face. But my eyes were the complete opposite of Lee's. As opposed to his cold fury, mine was red hot anger.

"Shooting people when their back is turned on top of kidnapping a bunch of people. Things are not looking good for you," I said through gritted teeth.

"And then we'll likely get charged with the slaughtering of a bunch of military figures," Bonita suddenly said.

There was dead silence. Eyes were widened, and there was time to let what was just said sink in. Jack was the first one to break the silence.

"What?" he questioned.

"Among all the minds that I read, there was a lot of thinking that making this decision was a bad idea. But most of them didn't specify what went wrong cause they already knew. Until that one person I read. 'This is not the kind of stuff I thought I would be doing in Special Forces,'" Bonita said before gesturing her head towards the scientist. "The thing is that I was able to read every mind in this place except for Robert's. And now this guy's. So either he's got the same thing you've got, or..."

"Or he's got someone way to counter it," I finished. Here the scientist grinned.

"You think all of this was for no reason?" he questioned.

"No good reason!" I exclaimed.

"This project didn't just revolutionize travel as we all know it. The things we leaned from you all alive or dead or was too good to ignore. Like these telekinetic inhibitors we made," the scientist said with a smirk. "While telekinesis was impractical with the way modern tech was setup, we discovered it had amazing resistance to all forms of psychology, hypnotherapy, and many other forms of mind alterations. Even something as simple as judgement impairment when drunk or high."

"What'd you get off me?" Lee asked.

"Experiment..." The scientist craned his head to get a better look at his facial features. It was fairly difficult to do, given his position in the ice. "...35. 'The Conduit.'"

"You know," Lee said, not phrasing it as a question.

"At first we were completely blind. We had no way to track what was going on the inside. That was the next phase of development, and by the two weeks, we achieved that. We were able to watch everything you were doing. And the universes you were sent to... the information we managed to mine off some of them... interesting to say the least," the scientist said before pointing to me.

"Your world, while it was not very informative too much off battling an AI and simple teenage romance, your mind's capacity for storing and processing information was astonishing. And we learned a few things about programming thanks to you and your friends. The idea of a supercomputer is possible. Not legal necessarily legal. But possible."

"The Supercomputer is possible because you take every possible network technology is based off of and you treat it like a giant spider web," I told him, seemingly on instinct.

 _"Precisely._ Thanks to you we know that every piece of technology, whether old or new, is connected simply based off the fact off one thing. Signal waves. Just about every form of tech sends off waves. Whether electrical or radio based. And that way, you know everything there is to know about everyone without even needing to hack into anything. According the the Supercomputer, you are not intruding. You are a part of the system," the scientist explained, really getting into what he was saying now. "China, Russia, Beijing... even North Korea for fucks sake! We can keep an eye on them, but they don't know that we're there. We're part of the system..."

"...as an undetectable bystander," I finished.

"It revolutionizes spying on an entirely different scale. And the possible security codes, the systematic infections, the viruses..."

"Do you mean XANA?" I questioned.

"That's what you referred to the rogue AI as. Ours is more human controlled. You can program what you do. And it is linked with the Supercomputers we've developed. Because of these theories, this branch of government has achieved even more funding. And we've put it to good use as far as development. Because your world..." Here he pointed to Lee. And the way he was chuckling was slightly unsettling. "... was something phenomenal."

"What do you mean?" Lee asked, an edge making its way into his voice.

"Conduits! The powers you possess," the scientist said as if it was obvious.

"Yeah, in case you haven't noticed, that's not not possible in this world," Lee told him in the same tone of depracation.

"No it's not, but there are things we did learn. It... Oh, for God's sake. I'm spelling out all our research here. At least get me out of this freezing ice!"

"If you insist," I said idly. I got some strange looks, but I raised a hand telling them it was alright. I gripped the ice coat that covered and him and it shattered around him. He sighed in relief; likely from the warmth that was rushing back to him. Then a quick turn of the hand and he was yelling in pain on the ground from his broken legs.

"What the hell did you do?" the scientist asked.

"You asked not to be in the ice. I granted your wish. That didn't mean I wouldn't find another way to keep you in place," I told him evenly. But there was a slight shine in my eyes. It was a mix between amusement and cold indifference. "As interesting as this all is, that doesn't change that what you did was wrong."

"Right, wrong. We're changing the world here. For the lives we lost here, we've developed ways to save much more later down the line. If fantasy were to become real, America would truly become the greatest country, wouldn't you think?" the scientist said thoughtfully.

"I'm not going to play into your insanity. The question is why is the government decided on something this outlandish," I questioned.

"Are you kidding? There's all kinds of things the government does behind closed doors. But they know how to keep it hushed up," the scientist said.

"You say 'they.' Are you not with them?" Bonita questioned.

"We are a private company with our own agenda. We pooled a lot of money to keep this side of Special Forces on our payroll, and it took the bonus of having access to whatever ground breaks we made, but they got us the people for our projects. Something must've went wrong," the scientist said.

"Yeah. You ended up getting the wrong person out." Any pleasantries, if there were any, in my tone were gone. It was ice cold. "People have died as a result of this project to 'better mankind.'"

"It worked. We've discovered many advancements in research thanks to all the places you've been. The information we've..." His throat was cut off by me gripping it without even raising a hand.

"You get to join them," I growled before my fist suddenly tightened and then his neck snapped. Then blinked really fast and the reality of the situation started to sank. Another person I've killed...

"Where have you been to where you don't mind killing?" Bonita questioned, backing away from me slightly.

"Believe me, lady. I've been there too," Lee said.

"As have I. I'm a hitman for Christ sakes," Jack said.

"Though the place I was at never really required for me to kill anyone. It's just... I don't know. I feel like it's something I have to do in this case," I said, my face locked in a troubled frown.

"You don't have to explain anything. You deal with situations how you deal with them," Jack said, patting me on the shoulder. "We got two more people to free. Let's go."

I nodded, but my gaze locked onto the scientist I killed. The thing that unnerved me wasn't the open, blank gaze on his face. It was the fact that I had killed him without hesitation; almost like it was just anther creature on Lyoko that needed to be taken care of. That wasn't the case, but...

"Number twenty three. Here we are." Jack's voice snapped me out of thought process, and I opened the door.

This was something. The person on the bed was completely normal. Looked like an average white guy. However, the stick of wood that was next to him in a protective case was completely different. But it wasn't just a random stick of wood. It looked more refined; polished. Almost as if it was being taken care.

"Harry Potter," I said immediately.

"What gave it away?" Jack said in a such an average tone, I almost missed the sarcasm. Almost.

"You're awfully sarcastic for a professional assassin," I quipped as I started get the person up.

"I was never 'professional.' I got my jobs done. That's all that was needed," Jack said simply.

"Fair enough," I said as I hit a button and the person's eyes snapped open. Then his eyes darted to me, then his wand, and immediately went for the second thing.

"Whoa Jethro! Take a deep breath first," I told him.

"I can't! The battle! The Horcruxes! The-"

I gave him a quick slap to stop his ranting, and he held his cheek before looking at me with a frown.

"That wasn't nice," he said.

"So is not letting me getting a word in edgewise. Now, I'll send you back to where you came from if you want after this, but right now, we have to solve a problem here," I said as I opened the container and handed him his wand.

"What's the problem?" he asked.

"Turns out we were all sent to alternate dimensions by our government unwillingly. Or at least a corrupt branch of it. Being paid by some private company to house this stuff," Bonita explained.

"So we just need to take them down?" he asked.

"Expose them is more accurate. Once that's done, we're all going or staying in the dimensions that we're the most comfortable with," I told him.

"I'm staying. More than likely all the other hitmen will chalk up my disappearance to me wanting to go in hiding and stay that way. It's not like they'll ever trace me back here," Jack said with a shrug.

"I'm staying. No point in going back to where I'll eventually die cause all the Conduits have to die," Lee said as he summoned ice energy in his hands. "I'll keep this under wraps as much as possible. That way I don't get the Conduit treatment here in this dimension as well."

"I'm going back," Bonita said.

"As am I. And as for you..." I questioned to the newcomer.

"Eddie," he said as he started to stand up while twirling his wand in his right hand. "And I'm going back. I've got a war to help wrap up."

"Then it's settle. One more guy to get, then we find whatever evidence we can dig up," I said.

"Then let's get it done. I haven't had a day that didn't involve getting shot at in a while," Lee said as he lead the way out of the door.

"Experiment number twelve..." I repeated as we walked by the doors. "Here he is."

I just got a very uncomfortable feeling as I walked in the room. I didn't know what it was until I could hear the heart monitor in there. It was on a complete flatline.

"Didn't he say this guy was alive?" Jack questioned.

"All of you were when I went to go get you. It wouldn't make sense for him to lie about this guy. And I doubt they would keep his body lying around to stink the place. He must've just died not too long ago," I said as we opened the door.

His body was lying on the table, completely motionless. But the small round hole in the middle of his chest definitely helped us to not have to bother to figure out a cause of death.

"Poor bastard," Lee said as he looked at the guy's body.

"He got stabbed by something. Looks like a sword or something," Jack said.

"What do you think caused it?" Bonita asked.

"Who knows? With all the different universes we've ended up, I wouldn't be surprised if he ended up in a kung fu movie," I said as I released his restraints. "Well, there's no way we can bury him now. I doubt what we've stumbled on only has this number of people backing them up."

"They'll all get what's coming to em," Lee said, tightening his fists. "This is what I do for a living."

"This is one job I'll do for free," Jack said, cocking the rifle in his hands.

"Alright, that's everyone who's alive. Now I just need to find evidence of this place. A place this big has to have a main computer or even security cameras," I said, gesturing all around me. "I just need to find it."

"Then let's get to looking," Bonita said.

* * *

Unbeknownst to me, Aelita had just returned from the university. She set her book bag next to the couch before rubbing her neck, letting out a small groan of relief. Then her eyes darted to the almost finished sandwich sitting on the table, letting out a sigh.

"You could at least finish it Robert," Aelita mumbled with a shake of her head before picking it up and taking a bite out of it. The both of them swapped spit every day, so there was no reason to even remotely care about germs. Plus she was hungry. "Robert! Where are you?"

No response. That made her frown. When she was talking to him a few hours ago, he seemed to be waiting for her here at the house. What could he have had to do in two hours and...(she glanced at her watch) ...twenty three minutes?

There was a lot of mail on the table as well. She shuffled through it and saw it was a bunch of letters from the others. It made her smile. They probably would've killed a forest with the amount of letters they sent back and forth. Jeremy was still working out the satellite to transfer messages. Most people were calling it texting. She stuck with messaging. It was simple enough.

After looking through the messages, she decided to go ahead and throw a call towards Robert's cell. She frowned when she heard ringing beneath her. Digging her hand in the couch, she pulled out his phone before groaning. He always did this when he fell asleep on the couch, but he usually got it out. A lot of times, not before she found it at least.

 _"Maybe he went to see Jeremy?"_ Aelita thought. Then she scrolled up to Jeremy's name and called him.

 _"Hey Aelita. Normally this is you and Robert's 'alone time,'"_ Jeremy said with obvious finger quotes. _"I really hope you didn't call to tell me what that entails. I really don't want to know."_

"No, I did not. And it usually is our 'alone time.' But he isn't anywhere around, which is weird. Did he pay you a visit?" Aelita asked.

 _"No, I haven't seen him since he called me this morning. Apparently he met this girl at the college and is now playing matchmaker like a demon,"_ Jeremy said, taking on an exasperated tone.

"Ah. Christi. Yeah, he introduced me to her. She's really cute. At first I thought I'd have to give a bitch an ass whooping they'd never forget, but once he explained that she was for you, I was all for it," Aelita said in the most casual tone ever.

 _"You know..."_ Jeremy said with a slight amount of amusement in his tone. _"...sometimes I think about the adorable, innocent Aelita that I found in the Supercomputer when first turned it on. And then I look at you now and think... 'What. Happened?'"_ Aelita burst out laughing. The pause in between the words just made it funnier to her.

"Robert just has that way about him. I know he said I didn't have to do anything he did if I didn't want to or felt comfortable with it, but I ended up turning into this anyway. I'm still smart and I still believe in right and wrong. But at times, I curse like a sailor and have a mind that could make a stripper blush," Aelita said. The crazy thing is that he was still worse than her.

 _"Yup. That's Robert's handiwork alright. He had no problems in showing the thoughts in his mind in public when we were at Kadic once I got used to you two dating,"_ Jeremy said dryly.

"It kept the death glares I had to dole out to a minimum. But I'm getting off topic. Everyone else is in separate parts of the world, so it's not like he could stroll down there and visit," Aelita said.

 _"That is strange. It's not like him to just go off without saying anything to any of us. If he was still alive, my mind would immediately go to XANA. Plus we're in America, not France. He'd have to pull some serious strings to get to us down here,"_ Jeremy said.

"He has taken over satellites Jere," Aelita reminded him.

 _"True. But there aren't any giant holes in the ceiling, are there?"_ Jeremy asked.

"Not from what I can see," Aelita said, looking up.

 _"Then it's not XANA. He hasn't returned from the recycle bin from Hell,"_ Jeremy said dryly. Both parties chuckled before Jeremy suddenly went silent. Aelita immediately noticed.

"What is it?" she asked.

 _"I've got one idea, and I don't like it one bit,"_ Jeremy said, his tone suddenly sounding quite bitter.

"What?" Aelita questioned.

 _"There's a chance that whatever dimension he was from found a way to pull him back,"_ he said, making Aelita suddenly grip the phone with an iron hold.

"You think so?" she questioned.

 _"It's the only thing I can think of for him suddenly disappearing like that. And he did warn us years ago that it was a possibility. Think about it. When he arrived on Lyoko, I didn't even know he was in the system until I detected him near you. It's not very hard to believe he would leave just as quietly,"_ Jeremy explained.

"You're right. I hate that idea. But..." Aelita trailed, her heart suddenly speeding up.

 _"All we can do is wait. If he doesn't show up by tomorrow, I'll let the others know,"_ Jeremy said, his voice now sounding sad. _"I just hope it doesn't come to that. Just... try to get some sleep."_

"I'll try. Bye Jeremy," Aelita said, her tone lowering before she cut off the call. The grip on her phone suddenly got tighter as she hugged a pillow to her chest.

It was amazing the way things worked. Robert came out of nowhere in the midst of all the craziness with XANA, and everything changed. It changed because he wasn't like everyone else. Besides the fact that he came from an alternate dimension and knew what was going to happen with XANA before it did.

No, he was a walking pile of... brash attitudes and crazy ones as well. And yet, he did everything in his power to be a good friend to them all. So that he felt he would have a use. And with the way that things were now, she couldn't imagine that craziness being out of her life forever. She didn't think any of them would be able to. They loved each other, dammit. They were family. They were all close. After XANA, the problems were supposed to be over. They were supposed to have a normal life. Settle down.

Setting the pillow back down on the couch before going to her room, she set her phone down on the table that was next to the bed before shutting the light off. But her eyes were fixated on the spot next to her. Even though she had the room to, she didn't move over so she would have more room. She had gotten so used to that spot being occupied.

 _"You wanna sleep together?"_

 _"What?"_

 _"It's not a hard question, Lita. Do you want to sleep together?"_

 _"Isn't there a thing about having sex out of wedlock?"_

 _"I don't mean like that. I mean literally sleep. It gives me an excuse to dry hump you for free though."_

 _"You're incorrigible, you know that?"_

 _"And that's why you love me. But I'm serious about the sleeping part. We've admitted to loving each other, you've bit my neck like a vampire, and I've licked your nipples like a tasty sucker. On a side note, they kinda are. We now live together, and you're telling me you can't handle sleeping?"_

 _"The more you talk, the more I'm getting the feeling you're trying to get lucky."_

 _"Think about it like this. I love spending time with you when I'm awake. How about we seal the deal and do it when we're asleep too?"_

 _"If your hand goes lower than my stomach, I'm going to smack you awake."_

 _"No actions my sleeping person commit can be counted against me."_

 _"You get one pass. That's it."_

 _"I'll take it. Regardless of your threats of harmful actions against my person, I still love you. And it feels amazing to be able to say that and mean it."_

 _"Love you too, you stubborn knucklehead."_

Aelita had listened to the stories from Yumi's parents about loving someone so bad, that it hurt. It sounded beyond cheesy, and she was pretty sure that was the route she was going for. But the idea of never seeing him again... the thought _was_ painful.

 _"Robert, you're smart enough to figure stuff out. Please figure out a way back,"_ Aelita thought, nails digging into her hands. She wasn't going to shed a tear. Not yet. Not until she knew for a fact he was never coming back. There had to be some hope of it happening. There had to be.

* * *

A/N: First time I've take on a perspective that wasn't mine. Kinda fun.

If you're curious on the plausibility of a group of people who aren't old enough to drink knowing the meaning of love whether platonic or romantic, don't forget that the same people also were the only reliable people they had when they had to risk their lives for the entire town. Possibly the world. So there should be an exception somewhere in that.

Yes, things are really trippy right now. Things are staying mostly action oriented right now, but things'll get on track soon. When I can get on track and update more. Later folks!


	54. Chapter 54 - Exposure

A/N: Taking a while to think of how I'm doing the progression, but I'll try and make this swift.

* * *

"Keep your head down," I muttered.

"Did we really have to bump a clothes store?" Bonita asked.

"Running around in a bunch of clothes that made us look like patients from an underground lab isn't exactly inconspicous," I told her. "Besides, we technically didn't bump him."

"No, you just used your powers of the Force to mind trick him into clearing the clothes for us," Eddie said dryly, making me grin slyly.

"Semantics," I said, waving a dismissive hand. "Sides, not my fault the guy was sleazy and weak minded. Did you see how much attention we drew just walking into the store? We had to change."

"He's got a point. Now... how do you suppose we get into the White House? It isn't exactly going to be a free stroll inside," Jack said.

"I'll show them the documents at the gate. If that doesn't work, I'll try a mind trick," I said.

"And if _that_ doesn't work?" Lee questioned.

"Improvise," I said.

"That doesn't sound very wise," Bonita said with a small frown.

"Funny. I hear that a lot," I said with a small grin.

"From your girlfriend?" Jack asked.

"Nah. One of my buddies. He brings it up a lot," I said, thinking of the others. They had to have noticed me missing by now. Rest assured, I was going to do my best to ensure I got back.

"So how are we going to do this?" Jack questioned as we approached the gates.

"Like this," I said before waving my hands over to some guards that were around the front. "Hey! Over here!"

"Why did I think of that?" Jack said rather plainly as the guys in suits started heading our direction.

"You lost?" one of the men asked.

"Not exactly," I said before raising a file. Once they saw the logo that was on it, their whole demeanor changed. They seemed somewhat relaxed, but their stance instantly went tense upon seeing it. "Look familiar?"

"How did you get your hands on a Special Forces file?" the man asked, his tone suddenly hard. And just like that, we had weapons trained on us. Suddenly we weren't just civilians anymore. Perfectly understandable, I suppose.

"Firstly, there's no need for that," I said, pointing a finger and directing it upward. It caused all their weapons to be launched out of their hands and floating in the air. They were staring at their weapons before back at me. "And if you want your answers, well... we were all holed up in a lab. And as you can see... we're not necessarily normal anymore."

"That's the insignia for the private task force of Special Forces. Codenamed 'Blackout,'" one of the men whispered to the guy in front of me, but my hearing was exceptional.

"Private task force, eh? You've given them a lot of leeway," I told them.

"Come with us," the second man said before looking up at his floating pistol. "And, if you don't mind..."

"Just watch where you point those things," I said, dropping them into their hands. They kept them in hands, but they were pointing downwards. I kept my guard up the entire time. I was paranoid that the branch responsible for all of this would have eyes close to the White House, so I was taking no chances.

"Nice job," Jack said evenly.

"The simple approach is often the best approach. Occam's Razor, my good sir," I said.

"Never heard that one before," Jack said.

"Yeah, well I did pretty good in school," I said with a shrug.

From there, we ended up walking to up White House. Only for a bunch metal gates to slam in front of the entrances and an alarm to sound. This caused the men we were with to immediately raise their pistols.

"That's a security alert. No one can get in or out while it's up. And it's a level nine," one of the men said.

"How bad is a level nine?" Bonita questioned.

"It's just one number short of a bombing level threat. So likely an armed army with all kinds of weaponry," another one of them said. "No way we can get in now. We'll likely need to take cover from whatever's coming."

"I think I see it now," Lee said, pointing at a series of armored cars speeding in our direction. I was ready to blast some lightning at it, but one of the suited men stopped me from continuing the motion.

"These are agents of Blackout," he told me before his eyes darted to the file. "Should we be concerned?"

"Perhaps. I'm prepared for him to try and bullshit you on what really happened," I said before handing the file to him. "Read that. I'll have a talk with them."

"That may not be the best idea," the first guy said, but I didn't heed it.

The moment I stepped forward, armed and armored soldiers stepped forward with weapons that looked more some Halo style stuff than what I expected to see. They weren't lying about those advancements in technology. And every single gun was pointed at me, but my eyes only narrowed instead of feeling threatened. Soon after, the area around their feet froze as well as their weapons being yanked in the air.

"There's no need for that," Bonita said angrily, and she looked pissed. When a telekinetic was pissed off, you could tell. It was almost like they gave off an aura when they were mad. The soldiers seemed to go for sidearms, but the guy holding the file stepped forward.

"Stop this foolishness," he said firmly. Immediately one of the soldiers stepped forward to address him while his gaze turned to me.

"Agent, have you..."

"I know what I read, soldier," the first man snapped, and suddenly he went from composed to pissed. "I know..."

"Assuming those documents are real," the soldier said.

"Are you insinuating we can't identify false documents? We can read a copy or forged item anywhere," the man said, his eyes narrowing. "Besides, you print out everything with your insignia stamped on every page. So that's how you've been making all of your advancements in technology."

"We tended to..." This time he was cut off by the second man in black, who had obviously read the file his first partner passed to him.

"Save it," he said, his tone said pissed. "You and your entire division will be under IA investigation. In any case, you all are under arrest," the first man in the suit said.

"Well..." Here the soldiers straightened up, and I didn't like that. "...there's only one thing left to do then."

I read the movement a split second before it even happened, and so did Bonita. The man ate Force Lightning that his armor did little against while he ate a push that knocked him into one of the trucks they arrived in. From there, the whole place broke out into a war zone with the rest of the soldiers pulling out their sidearms. This time they had no hesitation in firing, and I had to force myself to make a makeshift barrier against the projectiles coming my way. Even the sidearms fired lasers instead of bullets. These guys must've been much better equipped than the ones in the base.

"Our weapons are no good against that armor," the first guy in the suit said.

"This rifle is doing a damn thing either," Jack said as Eddie launched a spell over from the side. It was a red curse, but judging by the scream he let off, it was definitely no stunner. It sucked that there was no practical cover out here. Damn the White House and its open spaces. Lee had to make do with an ice barrier who Jack, Bonita, and the men in black were hiding behind. I had to absorb any projectiles that got way too close. And Eddie was making do with Protegos that he had to cast back to forth. Though he seemed to be leaning more towards Jack's barrier as time went on.

I managed to knock one of the soldiers into another with a push before leaping out of the line of fire while summoning several of their sidearms in midair.

"Catch!" I exclaimed, tossing several of them to Jack and then to the men in black. They caught them and were able to peek behind the ice barrier a little bit to return fire.

"Get ready with that lightning! You've seen powers combine, right?" Lee exclaimed before floating in the air and creating an ice mist around the soldiers. I immediately knew what he was getting at.

"Hit the deck!" one of them exclaimed, but it was already too late. By the time I fired a bolt of lightning into the cloud, the mist formed itself around their bodies and froze most of their soldiers. Only five were left, and they seemed unnerved that their partners were so easily frozen.

"Bombarda," Eddie said calmly, and the ground next to them detonated before they could even gather their bearings to return fire. I gripped several of them in the air, while Bonita grabbed the remaining soldiers and we had them lined next to each other. He had several laser pistols pointing at him, a hand imbued with Force Lightning, a guy ready with an ice beam, and a wand that was capable of some dangerous spell work.

"You're done," I said simply. They seemed to address this by dropping their weapons. "Now what's this lockdown about?"

They were silent. No one refused to say a thing, and I growled in response while raising a fist, but the second man in black stopped me.

"We know all about this lockdown. There are only two ways to activate the lockdown. If the president initiates it, which I'm fairly sure he didn't, or it's remotely triggered from our Supercomputer," he told me.

"Good grief. No one needs a Supercomputer. It only leads to problems. Believe me. I know," I told him.

"It's become a central part of our country's security," he told me.

"Yeah, well no one nation deserves to have something that powerful. We purged all the ones in our dimension for a reason. Besides, it was the result of something illegal. Our kidnappings and subsequent experimentation. Rest assured, I will get rid of that thing and any and all plans to make more before I leave this place if you won't," I said with firm eyes.

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it. For now, we need to go about removing this lockdown and getting these documents to the people that need to know about it," the first man said, holding the documents in question.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," one of the men we took down suddenly said. Our eyes suddenly snapped to him.

"And why's that?" Jack said with a raised brow.

"Because... while the branch of government we paid off will consider kidnapping and holding public civilians hostage, rest assured, the company that hired us will not," he told me. I looked to the men in black.

"You have a Supercomputer, and you still have mercenaries?" I questioned.

"Just depends on when and where your eyes are at. They can't look at everything at a time," the first man reminded me.

"Enough of that. We need to find out where these people are keeping them," Bonita said. "His family was very much alive when we arrived here. Let's try and keep it that way."

"What about your families?" I questioned.

"I was orphaned," Bonita said.

"Divorced, and lived alone. I didn't have contact with my family for years even before I was whisked away into that world," Jack told me. I then looked to Lee and Eddie.

"Same here. Just lived alone," Lee said, his southern twang more distinct as he spoke this sentence.

"Orphaned," Eddie said simply.

"It's exactly why they went after you. They thought you'd be people no one would miss or even inquire about if you weren't heard about. They'd put you among the many person's report, or consider you a runaway orphan," I said, my teeth clenching in slight anger.

"Question is, why were you selected? Did they think you actually wouldn't survive?" the first man questioned.

"I don't think they had much hope for anyone surviving the procedure they put us under. Depending on the world you were sent to and how well you were able to adapt to said world depended on your survival. I got off easy," I said blandly.

"If they were smart, by realizing the fact that I did have a family that would inquire about their whereabouts, they'd attempt to control the situation; make it seem like that this was of no fault of their own, but by some unknown condition only they could treat. If you died, they could chalk it up to your condition. If you lived, well, that proves that the advancements they're making just improve human kind," Jack explained with an assassin's ice cold edge in his tone.

"From college to exposing corrupt government branches and companies," I said with a shake of my head.

"Honestly, I'm not surprised after spending a good four years in the walls of Hogwarts," Eddie said.

"Or fighting off a bunch of armed militia soldiers while shooting ice from my hands," Lee added.

"I fought mutants on a daily basis until we finished the war," Bonita said.

"And I assassinated shitheads. Honestly, we're all kinda used to similar crap where we come from," Jack said.

"I had to deal with an AI who was capable of controlling the physical and digital world. Well, at least until we beat and killed it. It was smooth sailing from that point," I told them.

"These are rather... interesting places you've been," the second man said.

"Yeah, well we're going to put an end to this cycle. This ends now," Lee said, crossing his arms. "Now how are we going to find them?"

"Leave that to us," the first man in black said before clicking the talkie on his collar. "Mr. President, manually disengage the lockdown. I cannot. We've got a rather... unsavory sort running about. There's some information you need to know. Subdued sir. But these are not all of them." There was a pause here where he glanced at us before back down towards his walkie. "They are... victims of this threat. We have something that'll explain everything. Yes sir. We will. They will understand." He cut off contact, and I raised an eyebrow at him.

"President Obama doesn't want you in there. He doesn't quite trust you yet, as he's seen what you've all done. It's more a precaution than anything else," the first man said.

"Seriously?" Lee questioned, his eyes a little hard.

"People often fear what they don't understand. Even the President of the friggin' United States is no exception. And do you think anyone would understand what we can do but us?" I questioned.

"I still hate the fact the fact that we have to wait out here," Lee said, crossing his arms.

"Make a snowman. You can have a playmate," I said with a small smile.

"You are not funny," Lee said flatly.

"Who said I'm trying to be funny?" I said before quickly flipping to walk on my hands and hold myself there with one hand. "Do whatever you want to do to take off the boredom."

"You decided on standing on one hand?" Bonita said, and I could tell she was slightly skeptical.

"Well, it gives you a nice view of his abs," Jack said in the flattest voice that ever existed. I laughed when I could sense some embarrassment roll of her. She couldn't sense my thoughts, but I'm sure she couldn't probably sense my vague emotions if I could. Which is something she probably didn't care for. I did just for the laughs.

"Sure. Tease the only girl in the group," she said defensively.

"No, it's because you're so easy to rile up. Well, maybe besides one. Hey kid! You slept with a girl yet?" Jack said, and I didn't think he was talking about me. It was confirmed when I heard Eddie splutter and the embarrassment on him was easy to sense. None of us could hold back our laughter at his reaction. Even Bonita.

"Stop that," Eddie said.

"This is how I pass the time. By getting comical reactions out of people," Jack said before I could vaguely see his feet turn in my direction. "Robert?"

I flipped to my feet with minimum reaction while grabbing the wrist I was balancing on and shaking it free of any soreness.

"Yes?" I questioned.

"I'm not sure if you're aware Private Snowball, but they don't serve fried chicken and watermelon in the mess hall," Jack said. My eyebrows furrowed for a minute before I grinned at exactly what he was referencing.

"Seriously? Full Metal Jacket references?" I questioned, which made Jack smile as well.

"I'm out of ideas to wind you up with. I didn't think you saw that movie," he told me. The smile on my face faded slightly.

"My dad showed me that movie just before I ended up leaving. Glad I did see it. It was a good movie," I said rather evenly.

"Out of all the things you said, you pick the most racist response of the movie?" Lee questioned.

"Well, I was looking to get a response," Jack said with a shrug. "Besides, it was more a movie reference than anything."

"And if I didn't react calmly and smacked you in the face?" I questioned.

"Worth it," Jack said flatly. None of us could help it. We all started laughing again.

* * *

A/N: Coming along slowly, but it's coming. I kind of want to rush through this part, but I'll take it easy for now.


	55. Chapter 55 - Family Matters

A/N: Time to continue this.

* * *

"We've got an alert out for the members of Blackout. We've got no clue which company could be responsible for supplying them, however. That was hushed up," the first man in the suit told me.

"Everything leaves a trail. You just gotta know where to look," I said with my hand under my chin in thought. "Though I think it's better we start with Blackout. They're the whole muscle behind this whole thing. We take care of them, the company's cut off."

"We still want that device back at the base intact. I'm going back after this mess is over with," Bonita told him.

"Same," me and Eddie said at the same time.

"Very well. I'll tell them to preserve it," the first man said before gesturing to the military trucks that were coming up behind us. "Normally we'd advise the civilians to stay out of matters like this, but given what you've been through..."

"You'd have to find a way to knock me out to keep me from trying to rescue my family. And I'd prefer if we'd cooperate," I told him.

"In the trucks, then," the first man said, making me nod as I stepped in the truck.

"But first... from what I've seen, you'd probably find these useful," the second man suddenly said, handing me two swords that I could strap to my back.

"Indeed I will," I said, examining the swords precisely.

"It was one of the things we found in their armory when we raided the place. And there's a lot of technology we've found in there. As well as the losses that caused it all to happen," the first man said bitterly. "Keep them if you want. We have no use for them."

"Believe me when I say this..." I said, putting the swords on my back. "This ends today."

I was done speaking at that point as I stepped in the truck with the rest of my experimented brethren. The soldiers up front glanced at each other when we stepped in the truck, but if they had any apprehensions about transporting us, they didn't voice it.

I was quiet and deathly serious the entire trip. Something about having the head of your entire family at risk does that to a guy. I didn't even get a chance to... My eyes hardened. There was going to be a chance for me to get to say goodbye. Or God help all of their souls from what I'd do to them. He'd definitely have to show mercy to them, because I sure as hell won't.

"You ok?" Eddie asked me, and I turned so he'd catch glimpse of my expression. "Sorry, dumb question."

"We'll get them out of there alive," Jack assured me.

"We'd better. Because I'm going to leave quite a mess if they don't," I said, my tone deadly calm. I used to get angry when XANA did something to the others, but that threat of everything seemed to be amplified cause I had actually killed someone. I didn't ask for this blood on my hands. But it was there. And at the very least, I'd be able to live with it knowing what would've happened otherwise.

When the truck stopped, it was lead to a house I didn't recognize. I have no idea when they moved from dingy ass Arkansas to Washington, but something told me that Blackout was responsible. At least it was an upgrade.

"What's the information on the situation?" I questioned the man who seemed to be coordinating the entire perimeter. It was a mix of police officers and soldiers.

"Who are you?" he questioned.

"The guy whose family is in that house Captain," I said through gritted teeth while eyeing his badge. "Now are you going to tell me, or not?"

"Just tell him. He's really agitated about the situation," Jack told the man with a cool confidence.

"Well, we were informed of the situation with Blackout, but those aren't any of their soldiers in there. They're plain mercenaries. They said they'd shoot the people inside if any one of us moved any closer," the captain said.

"If one of _you_ did," I said, moving to walk past the barrier. But I was stopped in by an arm in front of me.

"I can't let you in there. Who brought these civilians over here?" the captain questioned.

"We did sir," the driver from earlier said. "Believe me. These aren't ordinary civs. They're tied to this whole thing. Just let him in."

"I'm going in. If there's a security system, you should be able to remotely freeze the feed. Go down round the back and set up a perimeter. Eddie, you can Apparate right?" I questioned.

"Sure can," he told me.

"Good. Go with them and get anyone out that you can. But do so quietly. The point of me going in there is to be a distraction mostly, but I will go for a takedown if possible when in position," I said seriously.

The captain stared at me curiously for a few moments, and I met his gaze with a raised brow.

"You're awfully serious for a kid," he told me.

"I'm at least old enough to vote," I said simply before walking forward.

"Stop there! Hands where I can see them!" a voice told me as I approached the door, and I had my hands at my side with no hesitation.

The door snapped open, and suddenly I had a gun under my chin within seconds.

"I'm judging by the size of that gun, you're happy to see me," I said rather blandly.

"Go ahead. Laugh it up," he said before snatching me by the collar and throwing me in. He was at least strong enough to make me stumble inside. "On the ground."

"I prefer to stand," I said. That got a gun butt to the back of my head. It didn't knock me to the ground, but it did hurt.

"Ground. Now. Or we shoot them," he told me.

"Fine, you bearded asshole," I said, my hands still at my side. Then I got on my knees with my hands still at my side.

"Call up the guy who hired us. He said he'd be here," the mercenary said to one of his partners on his radio.

"Of course I would. A man comes for his family, does he not?" I said.

"That makes you predictable," the mercenary sneered at me. It seems he didn't care about age when it came to a target.

"I could say the same about you. But know this: If any of them die, I will kill all of you," I said, my tone getting a dangerous undertone in it.

"Make a move, and we'll kill them," the mercenary told me.

"How do you even expect to get out of this without at least getting a long bit of jail time?" I questioned. "Or did you not think that through?"

"Simple. We get a plane out of here," he told me.

"You ever thought about the fact that it's a movie plan, and it never works?" I questioned.

"If they want to keep your brains from painting the room, it will," the mercenary said, making a point to stick the gun barrel under my chin again. I gave him a bored look.

"You don't scare me," I said, my hands at my side.

"You should. You ruined the work of the guy who hired us, and he's not happy," he told me.

"Oh, was I supposed to let the asshole who kidnapped me and many others run free? Forgive me. I wasn't aware that was the best thing to do," I said sarcastically.

"It certainly would've meant you had a lick of self-preservation," the mercenary told me.

"I don't do what I did before to keep myself alive. Unlike your selfish ass," I said, eyeing him with distaste. That got me a smack in the jaw with the gun butt, and I had to spit out some blood. "Not bad. I know girls that hit harder than that."

That got me another hit, but it was true. Yumi learned how to break someone's jaw with one well placed hit. Girl was dangerous.

"You certainly don't keep your mouth shut, do you?" the mercenary told me.

"Nope. There is one thing I'm wondering. Where is my family?" I questioned, and here the dangerous undertone came back.

"In the other room being watched over by the rest of my group. Why?" His tone turned mocking. "You want to see mommy and daddy?"

"You do realize I haven't seen them for years now. Your mocking does not amuse," I said in a bored tone. "I can survive without parental supervision, in case you haven't noticed."

"Obviously not," the mercenary said.

"Just bring them in," I said simply.

"No snarky comment?" he questioned with a raised brow.

"Do you want one? I've got plenty," I told him.

"Keep your mouth shut, and I won't hit you again," the mercenary said, keeping his gun pointed at me as he walked towards the back room. "Snake! Bring one of them in!"

He got no response. He called out a few more times, and it was the same result. I had a grin on my face as he opened the door, only to see it empty. And his goons either knocked out or shot. Even I didn't hear a thing.

"What the hell is this?" the mercenary said, coming back over to me with his gun pointed at my head.

"This..." My grin grew slightly wider as in a split second I drew one of the blades on my back and severed his gun arm while the other one was unsheathed in the same frame and I used that to take his entire other arm. "...is a hostile takeover."

Just then the door burst open, and I turned to see that the soldiers had finally moved in. They had their guns pointed at the hand/armless guy on the ground. I spun my swords before putting them back in their sheaths. Before I left, I took a good long look at the bastard on the ground.

"From the moment I walked in here, you should've known that you were never in control. Idiot," I said spitefully before giving him a stomp on his face to break his nose. "Alright, he's yours."

I could feel eyes staring at me as I walked away, but I paid them no mind. I just need to do the final check for myself. But I ran into Eddie first.

"Hey, nice job getting them out of there. What'd you do?" I questioned.

"Easy Silencing Charm on the door, then it was a mix of Imperius Curses and Stunning spells," Eddie told me. "That spell may be Unforgivable, but it sure is useful."

"It's not the charm. It's the way you use it. Well, usually," I said before giving him a salute. "It's about time to wrap this up."

"I just hope the whole thing with Voldemort isn't over by the time I get back," Eddie said.

"Even if it is, you already know they've got everything under control," I said.

"I know. Still, I may be able to keep some people from dying," Eddie said, making me nod in understanding.

"Then catch a quick ride back to the base so they can send you back. Just hope someone left instructions on how to work those stupid devices. Remember, you're number twenty three," I told him.

"Noted," Eddie said, walking away. Then I turned, and faced a sight that was almost foreign.

It had been years since I had seen my family, but there wasn't any change in the way they looked. If there was, it was unnoticeable. But the thing that really caught my attention were the kids next to my older sister. There were three of them, and they could all walk on their own. It was somewhat depressing that I had missed so much here.

"Your family?" Jack said, walking up next to me.

"Yeah. It's been almost four years since I've seen them," I said softly.

"Not quite sure how to handle it, are you?" Jack questioned.

"Not really. It's just kind of awkward to think about with all the time that has passed," I said.

"Start simple. Go up to them, say 'Hi, how are you' like you all just met and go from there," Jack advised.

"That... is a terrible idea," I said with a delayed chuckle.

"Well, you come up with one smart guy," Jack said, a full grin actually showing on his face. "Just go for it."

"Well, it's the best way to go about a situation. Why not?" I said with a shrug before moving forward to walk towards them. At the moment, they were being talked to by one of the soldiers.

"...was the result of a branch of government and a company. Rest assured we are..."

"You are doing everything you can do resolve the crisis," I said as I walked forward and all attention turned to me. "Yes, I'm sure we're aware of that. But right now, I among many people would prefer for you to actually get to it please."

"Ah. Well... yes. I'll leave you to... him," the soldier said awkwardly before going off. I then turned to my family, and the first person I ended coming face to face with was my mom. "You do realize you haven't changed a bit in looks, right?"

The hug I got certainly caught me off guard. My mom was never much for hugs. I suppose it was one of the reasons I was so adverse to them when I got to the Lyoko world. But I put hands around her back and embraced back.

"You're awake," she said, and there was a certain level of emotion in her voice that was very strange to hear. Again, I hadn't been here in a few years, so I didn't know what had happened.

"Yeah. I just wish I woke up to a situation more pleasant," I said when she released me.

"Hey!" someone exclaimed, and it was the mercenary whose limbs I severed. It was a little hard to look at it, but easier when I focused more on his face. "When I get out, I..."

"Shut up already!" I exclaimed, throwing a rock at his skull while he was being carried out on the stretcher. That knocked him out.

"Hey! Don't throw rocks at our patient!" one of the paramedics said.

"It's not my fault your patient is a piece of shit! At least he won't be able to hold a gun again!" I exclaimed, throwing a hand in the air dismissively. Then I turned back. "Asshole. God, I thought I was done with crazy crap in my life. Lyoko was bad enough."

"You're still... alive?" my older sister Shel questioned, and her expression was akin to looking at a ghost.

"More or less," I said before staring at my nephews. "I see you've been busy while I've been gone."

"In a way, yes," Shel said, her tone still subdued.

"Good God. Almost four years since I've been gone. And I've changed in ways you can't even begin to understand," I said.

"I can imagine," my dad suddenly said, and my expressed cooled somewhat upon seeing him.

"You're here," I said.

"There's no way I would not be after what happened to you," he told me.

"Yeah, I remember hearing how angry you sounded when you found out what they did with my body," I told him. Then my sisters turned to him.

"What, you knew about this?" my younger sister Autumn said. She was quiet up until now.

"The people responsible for this more than likely had him stay hushed about this. He could know, but no one else," I said easily.

"You know?" my dad questioned.

"Every once in a while, I got glimpses in this world as opposed to the one I was in. So I know of the situation somewhat. At least to where it's fairly easy guesswork," I said simply.

"What'd they do to you?" my mom questioned, looking at me properly.

"Alternate dimension. TV show and movie bullshit becoming all too real to people. I was one of the lucky ones to survive the whole thing," I said sourly. "Nearly died a few times though. It's not the most pleasant thing in the world."

"And you can talk about it casually," my dad noted, making me laugh.

"When you've got more to lose than your own life, death doesn't scare you anymore," I said.

"You've grown up," my dad said.

"Even before I was taken, were you really around all that much to witness it?" I questioned with a raised brow. I could tell by the strain on his face that statement hurt a little, but it happened. Regardless whether or not I was still bitter about it.

"Fair enough," he responded, and I only nodded in response.

"Robert!" a voice exclaimed, which caused me to turn. It was Bonita, and she had other soldiers with her. An escort of some sorts, even though I doubted she needed one.

"I assume you're off?" I questioned.

"Yes. Lee's already moved on, and so has Jack and Eddie. At least I'll be free to go back without being pulled out again. And thanks for getting us out before they could've gotten rid of us," Bonita said.

"I used to save lives while keeping a 3.5 grade average at the very least," I said dryly before grinning. "I think pressing a few buttons to wake you up is not that much of a problem in comparison."

"I would think not. Goodbye then," Bonita said with a wave.

 _"Adiós, mi amiga. Puede encontrar su valor en el mundo de la vigilia,"_ I said in Spanish, and she grinned even wider. My dad looked at me in surprise.

 _"Tu hablas español?"_ he questioned.

 _"Con fluidez. Soy una galleta inteligente,"_ I told him, and he grinned wider.

"That you are," he said, and I couldn't resist a small smile.

"You do have to realize that none of us can understand you right?" Autumn said, and I grinned.

"Then learn Spanish, little sister," I said, crouching down and patting her on the head. She batted it away and her annoyed face gave way to a smile after a few minutes. Then I pulled her into a hug.

"It's nice to see you again," Autumn said.

"You too," I said as we broke away. "I see you've grown."

"You too. You used to be a twig," she said with a smile.

"Now I'm a tree," I said, holding my arms out as I was wearing short sleeves. "You see the gains?"

"I call steroids," Autumn said with a smile, and I laughed.

"You wish. I had a few things that kept me in shape," I said, cracking my knuckles by closing them into a fist. "Mostly martial arts training."

"You're a black belt?" Shel asked.

"Beyond it. The sensei at the place down the street from my college couldn't even beat me," I said with a smile.

"College?" my dad questioned.

"Majoring in tech design, minor in Criminalistics. Just in case the singing career doesn't work out. Or if I'm ever finished with it," I said.

"Singing? College? There's just..."

"A lot you've missed, yeah. And that's not your fault. Then again, it was the things I went through that changed me. Pushed me into being something better. It's doubtful I would've ended up like this had I stuck around, but honestly, I didn't have much motivation before. I did when I switched worlds. Believe me, you find motivation when something tries to take your head off with a laser," I explained before turning to Shel. "Now, you owe me an introduction to my nephews, now don't you?"

"Sure," Shel said before gesturing to each of them in turn. "Anthony, Martavius Junior, and Michael. We just call him Juju for short."

"Well, hello to all of you," I said with a smile. Michael and Juju didn't seem to want to talk to me considering the fact that I was a complete stranger to them, but Anthony seemed to not have that problem.

"Hello uncle," he said, and the title made me grin in ways that I couldn't understand.

"And hello to you," I said, ruffling his hair. "God, he looks a lot like his father."

"Way too much for my tastes," Shel said, shaking her head.

"Where is he, anyway?" I questioned, and I could sense the awkwardness immediately. Though from my dad, I could feel that feeling of anger that I didn't mistake. "Being a bum?"

"That's one way to put it," he said, and maybe it was a good thing that I had been out of touch for a while. Otherwise, I'd beat the shit out of him.

"Well, where you come from doesn't guarantee where you'll end up. So at least they'll have that comfort," I said before standing up straight as a soldier approached. "News?"

"Yes. The devices we seized were intact, so your extraction can happen at your word," he told me, making me nod.

"Wait, you're not staying?" my mom asked.

"I didn't plan to. I've got school, friends, a girlfriend to get back to. After spending years there, that became my life. Not this," I said, gesturing all around me.

"But we just got you back," Autumn said, and suddenly the decision was that much harder. She wasn't that much younger than me; only by about a year and half, but something about the way she said it really pricked at me.

"I know," I said with a sigh. "Alright, I'll stay for a few days."

"Days?" my dad asked.

"By now, my friends and my school probably think I'm missing given how long I've been here. And I really don't want to worry them any more than I have to. Then again..." I said before looking to the soldier. "Where is that device?"

"You want to go back now?" he questioned.

"Not quite. Just lead me to it," I told him before turning to the others. "I'll be back. Let me handle something."

* * *

The room was quiet. There was the depressing fact that Robert was missing now. Well, more than likely not missing, but sent back to his own world. And the fact ruined the mood of just about everything today. Jeremy was around to try and provide some silent comfort, but she was still upset. The others would know about it eventually once she felt like sending the letters. For now, she'd just rather sit around.

Then something strange happened. There was this strange sensation that overtook her. It was lulling her in a type of sleep, but when she woke up, she wasn't in the apartment. She was lying on a bed in a strange institution.

"So it can pull out natives," I said as Aelita's eyes snapped to my face. That made me grin. "Miss me?"

I didn't get an answer. At least a verbal one. I got a physical one as she basically tackled me into a hug. I wrapped my arms around her without hesitation, and there was that warm feeling I was got internally when she was around.

"Oh, thank God. When you hadn't shown up, I thought might have..."

"Well, I did. It's just that I was able to send you here as well. I'm staying for a few days then I'm coming back," I told her, already knowing what she was about to say.

"Can I stay?" Aelita asked.

"I'm pulling everyone in. It's the weekend, so I'm sure they could spare some of their time. Besides, it's a chance for you to meet my folks," I told her.

"Oh goodness. Is your mother going to grill me about whether or not I've been treating you right?" Aelita questioned.

"She might," I said with a grin, making her groan.

"Great. That won't be very fun," Aelita said before smiling. "I missed you."

"I've been gone for a day and a half," I said with a grin, making her swat me on the arm playfully.

"You know what I mean! I thought you were gone forever," Aelita said.

"Well, I'm not. So at least you have that comfort. And now that all affairs are finally in order, when we do return, we'll be fine to just stay," I assured her.

"Promise?" Aelita questioned.

"Promise. Let's just hope they can keep those stupid mercenaries and rogue soldiers in prison," I said before turning to the device used to send me into Lyoko. I had a bit of love/hate feeling about the thing. "Let me just pull the others out."

* * *

A/N: Bear with me here. We're almost finished. I'm only really seeing this continuing for a few more chapters. After this, someone suggested I do this story with my OC date Yumi instead. I may do that, but it won't be nowhere near as long as this turned out to be. Then there's another one I've been working on with someone in PMs. It's a pretty big mess, but at the same time, it's kind of fun. I dunno. We'll see.

 _"Adiós, mi amiga. Puede encontrar su valor en el mundo de la vigilia." =_ Goodbye my friend. May you find your worth in the waking world. It's a Bloodborne reference that she may or may not know about.

 _Tu hablas español?"_ = You speak Spanish?

" _Con fluidez. Soy una galleta inteligente." =_ Fluently. I'm a smart cookie.


	56. Chapter 56 - A Family Day

"So this is your world, huh?" Odd said, looking at the city as we drove. William was the only one I didn't pull out because he had a job to attend to. Besides, he wouldn't miss if we were gone for a few days. Especially since most of us weren't even in the same area.

"It's a city like any other. Just more technologically advanced and filled with more shitheads," I told him.

"Sounds like loads of fun. We're only gonna be here for a few days, right?" Yumi asked.

"Only a few," I confirmed.

"And are we going to have escorts the entire time?" Ulrich asked, his gaze going towards the soldiers driving us.

"No. They'll shadow us for sure, but that's mainly because they want to watch what may come out of these devices. Because this..." I then shot lightning from one of my hands to the other before stopping. "...should not happen normally."

"Did you somehow get your Lyoko powers?" Jeremy asked.

"Yes. Thankfully, because I would've more than likely died otherwise," I said, my stare rather blank. The statement seemed to worry them, and I could see why. "But I'm fine. That affair has been settled."

"Thank God for that," Ulrich said.

"I thought you had been gone forever," Aelita said sadly, and I grabbed her hand.

"I'm not going anywhere. Not this time," I said softly, but firmly. "I was worried it was only a matter of time before I got pulled out. I just could never predict when."

"It definitely happened at a random time," Jeremy told me. "So where are we going?"

"To my folks' house. You're going to meet my family," I said rather evenly.

"Everyone?" Aelita questioned.

"Not everyone. Just everyone I lived with before I went to your world. Along with a few extras probably," I said.

"Extras?" Yumi asked.

"I'm an uncle. Completely missed when it happened," I said, blowing out a puff of breath.

"To be fair, you were too busy deflecting lasers and helping us shut down a homicidal AI at the time," Odd said.

"Believe me. I know. And it still sounds strange every time I hear it," I said while shaking my head. "Though there was probably a lot of stuff I missed in the meantime."

"Well, you got a few days to catch up!" Odd exclaimed. "I'm just surprised you didn't decide to stay."

"This isn't my home anymore. It hasn't been for years now," I told him. "I'm just staying cause my sister wanted me to. Even then, it's only for a few days."

"And then you're just going to leave the whole place behind?" Aelita questioned, and I wasn't quite sure how to answer.

"We'll see," I said simply.

When we got there, it was raining, and none of us were dressed in the best clothing to avoid drowning in the rain. So we just opted to run for until we got under the porch. Though I immediately directed my gaze upwards as Aelita's shirt was basically see through. Yumi's not so much cause she was wearing black.

"What's the deal Robert?" Odd asked me.

"I'm going to keep my gaze upward to avoid temptation," I said plainly.

"Ugh. Stupid rain," Aelita said. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed she moved her hands to cover the front of her shirt. "Not the best first impression I wanted to make."

"It's not like you intended for the rain to get on you," Jeremy told her. His gaze was averted like mine, and unfortunately, Odd was out of my line of sight, so I couldn't see whether or not I had to smack him. I trusted Ulrich to keep his gaze averted. Especially with Yumi nearby.

"It still annoys me," Aelita said as I could lower my gaze without it getting stuck to one spot.

"It's why wearing black comes in handy," Yumi said with a smile. "I'm still clammy, but at least my shirt isn't see through."

"Bad news for you Ulrich," Odd said with a grin. That got him an elbow in the stomach from the guy in question.

"Let's just get inside," I said, knocking on the door. It was promptly answered my dad, and he raised an eyebrow at the numbers that met him.

"Friends of yours?" he asked.

"Very much so. This place got a fireplace?" I asked.

"Yes, but not much wood," he told me.

"If it's enough for us to dry off, it's good enough. In," I said, jerking my head forward so we could all go inside.

"Hi," I heard Aelita say almost hesitantly, but I was more focused on getting the fire started.

"Where's the wood?" I asked.

"Back porch. I'll be back," my dad said, and I nodded before running a hand through my soaked hair. There was a period of silence before anyone spoke again.

"Who are these people?" my mom asked. I then gestured to each of them in turn.

"Jeremy, Odd, Ulrich, Yumi, and my girlfriend, Aelita," I said simply.

"You have a girlfriend?" Autumn suddenly said, and I smirked.

"Don't sound so surprised," I said, shaking my damp hand free of water droplets.

"Come on. Before you were barely social enough to make friends," she told me.

"Times change, and so do people. You can believe me when I say that," I said, my lips pursued.

"He's been wonderful to me," Aelita said in an as-a-matter-of-fact tone.

"And her to me," I said easily.

"I suppose that's what matters," my dad said, walking in with arms full of wood. "Help me here?"

"No problem," I said, moving over to grab a few logs and throwing them into the fireplace. He tossed me the matches and I lit the fire.

"Oh, finally," Odd said, one of the first to move in front of the fire. Then his voice lowered into a whisper. "Your sister's pretty cute."

"No Odd," I said with no emotion.

"Can't hurt to try," he said with a shrug. I rolled my eyes. He wouldn't even be here any longer than two days. Besides, as much as I liked Odd, I did not want to, in any lifetime calling him my brother-in-law. No thank you.

"So uh... you all hungry?" my mom asked once we were all comfortably dry.

"Odd, slow down," each and everyone in our group said. Even Odd, though it was more sarcastic. Each one of my family members looked at each other in response, and I couldn't suppress a smile.

"I could definitely eat. After all, I've been dodging bullets the first half of my afternoon. And I don't care for adding those to my diet," I joked, making Odd and Ulrich laugh. I got crickets from everyone else. "Wow, tough crowd."

"How do you joke about dying so easily?" Autumn asked.

"Believe me. You're better off not knowing the answer," I said before standing up. "Let me see if there's anything I can use in there."

"You cook?" my dad asked.

"Since Aelita's pretty pants at it..." I trailed, making me cackle when she playfully hit me on the chest.

"I'm ok at it. But some people are just too friggin' _picky,"_ Aelita said with a pointed look at me.

"Some people have _standards,"_ I retorted with a smirk.

 _"One_ bad meal. I swear to you," Aelita said, raising her index finger to everyone to emphasize her point. I kept grinning.

"Never again will I let you subject me to one of your horrid experiments," I said, suppressing a shudder.

"Ok, guru of the kitchen. I won't step out of bounds again," Aelita said, raising her hands in mock surrender.

"Is it like this all the time with them?" I heard Autumn whisper to someone.

"It's either this or being intimate. And there are many ways I show that," I said before cracking my neck. "Alright, let's see what I can do."

"I can help," my dad offered. I raised an eyebrow before nodding.

"Sure. Come on," I said, walking into the kitchen.

"So... this Aelita of yours seems like a nice girl," my dad said as soon as we walked in.

"She's outstanding. Always has been," I said while searching the cabinets. "Spaghetti, alfredo, rice..."

"There's beef tips in here as well," my dad supplied.

"Gravy?" I asked.

"Wouldn't have them otherwise," he told me, and I nodded.

"Alright, we can go with beef tips and rice then. Just hope we can do this in tandem without screwing anything up," I said, looking around. "At least this is a spacious kitchen."

"Compliments of our honest government," he said sourly, and that made me pursue my lips in distaste.

"Rat bastards. Yet at the same time, I'm kind of glad for it. I'm satisfied with who I am as a person now, the people I've met," I said, reaching for the rice.

"Is that why you want to go back?" he asked. I paused momentarily.

"Partially. Then there's the fact that I'd have to completely start over here. School, relationships. Even within my own fucking family," I said with a grunt of frustration. "I hate standing around people that are my actual family and feeling like a stranger. I hardly know any of you anymore, and I don't know whether to be sad, angry, or frustrated."

"I haven't exactly helped," my dad added.

"No, but this stems beyond that," I said before grunting in slight pain from my jaw. "Ugh. Guess I've ignored this long enough."

"One of those bastards clock you?" he asked, putting a hand under my chin to angle my cheek better.

"Inside, yeah. I have a habit of being a smart ass in the face of adversity," I told him.

"That does you no favors," he told me.

"You sound like Jeremy," I told him.

"Then he's a smart kid," he said simply. "Well, you got a nasty bruise there, but that's about it. It hurt?"

"Guy hit like a chump, so not really," I said.

"Better to put some ice on it," my dad told me.

"It's fine," I said, waving a dismissive hand.

"Either you do it now, or I could tell your girlfriend," he said with a rather bored look that I used often. The resemblance was rather uncanny.

"Blast you," I said with some annoyance, and he grinned.

"Hey, I know all the tricks. She's either going to bully you into it or make you feel bad for refusing. Which is she?" my dad asked.

"Second one for sure. It's almost unfair," I said, taking the ice wrapped in a napkin. Pseudo ice pack in our family.

"Believe me, I am well aware. Immune to just about everything the world can throw at you except a woman and the way she looks at you," he said, actually garnering a genuine laugh.

"Good Lord, it's a strange hidden power women have," I said with a grin as I drew out a pot. "Let's get started."

* * *

"You should've known this was coming," Ulrich said while I had my hand on my face.

"Yes, but this scenario is clipped straight from a sitcom," I told him. My mom was seriously showing Aelita and Yumi pictures of when I was little. Autumn was looking on in amusement, and my dad was just keeping his nose in his food.

"Like we weren't a TV show in this dimension anyway," Odd said.

"Good point," I conceded.

"Sounds weird every time it's brought up," Jeremy said.

"I don't think it'll ever stop sounding weird Jer," Ulrich said.

"No way. You used to be that skinny?" Aelita said, revealing a picture in my direction. I sighed and shook my head, while others laughed.

"Yes. I had quite the metabolism," I said blandly.

"Still, you've gone from bean pole to athlete. Quite the upgrade," Yumi said, making me smile.

"I agree fully madam," I said before taking a bite of food.

"Madam?" my mom asked.

"They've always had a certain dynamic. This is just one to add to the list," Ulrich said with a grin.

"They're more similar than they'd like to admit," Aelita said, grinning as well.

"We are..." The two of us started and stopped at the exact same time, getting everyone to laugh or at least grin. "I hate you all."

"Ok then, Legion," my dad said, making the both of us look at him in annoyed fashion. He only chuckled. "That's about what I expected."

"Don't stare too long sir. I'm sure if they stare long enough, they'll burn a hole through you," Odd said in an amused tone.

"There's one benefit to this method of thinking," Yumi said in an annoyed tone.

"And that is?" my dad asked.

"We can agree on the method we'll use to kill you all when we get annoyed enough," I said in a similarly annoyed tone.

"You know you love us," Ulrich said with a grin.

"Doesn't mean I have to like you," I said with a pointed look.

"Fair enough," Ulrich said, going back to his food.

"Most entertaining meal we've had in a while," Autumn quipped.

"I'd like to think so," I said, smiling slightly.

"Think nothing of it," Odd said with a grin, making me thump him. "Ow!"

"Don't be obnoxious. Especially not here," I told him.

"I don't know. He's kind of funny," Autumn said.

"Ha!" Odd said, looking at me smugly.

"Traitor," I said in an off handed tone of voice.

"Says the guy leaving his family for these people," she told me, and I immediately froze.

"Autumn..." my mom warned, but I was already speaking.

"They aren't just some people. And I'd advise you to think carefully about how you talk about them," I told her simply.

"But..."

 _"Enough,"_ I said, and there was a bit of hardness in my voice.

She quieted, but suddenly there was a lot of tension in the room. I finished off the rest of my food before eyeing the piano in the living room.

"That looks familiar," I said, pointing at it.

"It should. It was your grandma's," my dad told me.

"Didn't grandpa get it?" I questioned.

"He... died. Months before you came back. Heart attack," my dad told me solemnly.

"Oh," I said, my tone subdued. "Well... mind if I play something?"

"You play?" my mom asked.

"Lot of instruments, actually. Can I?" I asked.

"Knock yourself out. Better than collecting dust. Not sure how well it works," she told me. I nodded before moving over to the piano and running a hand across the keys, which synced perfectly. I pulled up the chair and started to play. First tune that came to mind was Fur Elise, so I played that. Recently I had been doing a lot of guitar stuff, but it felt pretty nice to get my fingers on a piano. Something was oddly calming about running my fingers masterfully along the keys. And just calming in general because of the tune.

"Fur Elise?" my dad commented, making me turn to him.

"You know classical?" I asked.

"Quite a lot of it. Your pops was into it a lot back in the day," he told me with a smile.

"I quite like it myself," I said, running my hand along the keys.

"You played that perfectly. Where'd you learn?" he asked me.

"I learned. And practiced. And practiced. And practiced," I said before looking up at him. "You could play the saxophone, right?"

"Probably still could. Why?"

"Just asking," I said with a shrug. "If I knew this place, I'd probably show you all around, but I don't."

"Either way, I think I'd prefer we stay in after today," Aelita said.

"Ditto," Ulrich said.

"You could always go up to your room," my mom said, making me look at her.

"I have a room? You had no idea I was even coming," I told her.

"When we moved, we never got rid of your stuff. So... it's all still up there," my mom said, pointing up there.

"Is it because you knew I had a chance of coming back?" I asked.

"That and... well, I didn't want to get rid of it in the first place," she admitted, making me go quiet. "Thanks for the food."

She then walked in her room without a word, and Autumn did the same thing. I looked at my dad, and he looked tired all of a sudden. I didn't really see him as old, but he was certainly getting there.

"You'll be fine up there?" my dad questioned. I nodded, and he seemed to follow right after my mom.

"What was that all about?" Odd asked.

"I think it's all about the fact that I mentioned I'm not staying," I said.

"You can't really blame them. I mean, they just got you back. And you're just going to leave again," Jeremy told me.

"Would you prefer I leave you guys forever?" I said testily.

"No, of course not. It's just... you have to think about what they must be thinking to," he said calmly, making me sigh and rub my temples.

"I know. Sorry for yelling. It's just... this whole situation is just stupid," I said. Aelita put a hand on my shoulder to get my attention, and she kissed me on the cheek.

"Just don't let it get to you. Come on. We can go upstairs to your room," she told me.

"Ooooooo..." Odd trailed teasingly, making me and Aelita roll our eyes before we simultaneously thumped him on the head. "Ow! Ok, I deserved that one."

"Yes, you did. Now come on. There's bound to be something to do to easy our boredom," I said before ushering them up the stairs.


	57. Chapter 57 - Family Discussions

I blearily opened my eyes to a room that I wasn't used to seeing. Normally, the sun would be blaring in my face cause the window happened to face my bed. But here, the window blinds were shut tight enough to where almost no sunlight came through. While it was welcome since I didn't have college to worry about, it was still strange.

Soft snores next to me brought me out of my thoughts as the right of Aelita's body was lying on top of me, an arm draped over my chest. I smiled at how adorable she looked sleeping. My darling Princess.

I then outweighed the pros and cons of getting up. Pros: I could satisfy mine and everyone's else stomachs when they woke up. Cons: I'd have to cook as well as get up from this comfortable position. My stomach rumbling made the pros outweigh the cons, so I gently moved Aelita to the side so I could get up. Her arms seemed to dart to me as soon as I moved her, and I carefully moved them away again. This time, her eyes blearily opened.

"Robert?" Aelita questioned sleepily.

"Shh," I said gently. "Go back to sleep Lita."

"You leaving?" she asked.

"To make breakfast. Just go back to sleep," I told her softly. She gave the smallest of nods before closing her eyes and burying her face in the pillow. I made sure to be careful not to step on any of my friends who had to take a sleeping bag on the floor before exiting the room. But I saw a phone lying on a table, and I recognized it as my old Samsung. In the same state I left it the last time. It was oddly strange that they kept some of my old stuff. Didn't even bother to get rid of any of it. It was strangely sweet. In a can't let go kind of fashion.

It only took me two tries to remember the pattern I used. All the music was still on here and the apps I used. Over six hundred songs in my Media Player. I forgot how much crap I downloaded onto this phone. That's where most of my space went, I think. The memory wasn't exactly extensive. Still worth it.

Walking downstairs, I took a whiff of my armpit before reeling back, blinking quickly.

 _"Ok, shower. Then cook. I smell like Odd's old gym socks before his feet cure,"_ I thought, searching each room until I found the bathroom by process of elimination.

* * *

I hummed Courtesy Call to myself as I gathered stuff up. I really liked the song before me and Aelita did it. Now I just liked it even more. And the Lyoko world knew it as our first debut song. I remember when I used to be nervous about doing it. Now I was just confident whenever it came to the singing scene. It was my element; similarly to how I was in my element in the face of danger as well. It was Aelita's as well, and we just complimented each other when we were on the stage together.

At the very least, there was plenty of stuff to make breakfast with. Bacon, eggs, pancakes. There was more, but I was going no further than that. No thank you. Not with a house of nine people, including myself. Screw that. Better be glad I was willing to do that much. Never again, I'll tell you that much.

At some point, I ended up playing music in the kitchen to distract myself from how hot and annoying it was to make enough for nine people. Singing nowadays was a constant way I kept myself busy. In a way, it was like training for a future job, but way more fun.

 _I'm gonna go, go, go_  
 _There's no stopping me_  
 _I'm burning through the sky, yeah!_  
 _Two hundred degrees_  
 _That's why they call me Mister Fahrenheit!_  
 _I'm travelling at the speed of light!_  
 _I wanna make a supersonic man out of you!_  
 _Don't stop me now!_

Now I was smiling and shifting my shoulders up and down to the beat, and at this point, I was using the Force to make the food cause I wanted to dance more than make the food. But I wanted to avoid burning it over all else. So this was the best solution. Hey, I could use my powers for simple stuff if I wanted to.

Needless to say, I needed a lot of plates to put all this stuff on. But as I turned on my heel, I jumped when I saw my dad standing there, smiling slightly.

"Blast it. Don't do that," I said, putting the plate of food down and cutting the music off. "Did I wake you?"

"Think so. Still, I don't mind considering what meets me," he said, looking at the food. "You do this?"

"I do it every day for college. I know how to cook a lot of stuff. I'm just glad you have the ingredients," I said, cracking my neck and using the Force to put it on the table. "You're the first one up, so help yourself. It's not fun making food for an entire house full of people."

"I'm sure. Still, thank you," my dad told me, and I nodded. And as I continued to cook, my stomach hated me more and more as time passed by. Stupid selflessness was making me starve. This was definitely going to be a one time thing. I was not doing this again without help. At least with this many people.

More food was made, and I cut my music back on. I made enough stuff to where there was at least a plate full for everyone, so no one could say anything to me. Eventually, the others came down and I noticed everyone perked up at the sight of food.

"Morning strangers," I said, waving at them with the spatula in my hand.

"You cooked? Awesome," Odd said, taking a seat.

"Enjoy this now. No way I'm cooking breakfast for nine people again," I said, grabbing the syrup and butter and placing it on the table.

"Can't say I blame you. Thanks daddy," Aelita said with a grin. I blushed slightly before turning away, making the others laugh. "That's about the only thing I can find that can embarrass you."

"You always do this in front of company," I said, trying to shake off my embarrassment. I created a monster, but I couldn't bring myself to regret it.

"It's what women do. Get used to it," my dad told me, making me groan. Aelita seemed to jump at the sight of him there, and ended up blushing herself.

"Unfortunately," I said, making my plate of food.

"Daddy, huh? What brought upon that?" Odd said, waggling his eyebrows.

"Odd, I swear no one will find your body when I'm through," I threatened.

"At least let me die on a full stomach!" Odd exclaimed, making me roll my eyes.

"Guys loved to be called that by their woman. It's a staple of manhood," my dad said. "By all means, continue your usual antics. I'm enjoying this."

"He goes even more red when I call him Papi," Aelita said, now beginning to grin. "I think it's the accent I add."

"Can we please shift the conversation to something that won't turn me into a tomato?" I said, sitting at the table.

"Please. I'm about to gag," Autumn said, who was at the foot of the stairs.

"Help yourself. If you don't eat, Odd will inhale it all down," I warned her as I buttered my pancakes.

"Look..." Odd swallowed the food in his mouth before finishing. "...who's talking!"

"I waited long enough to make you all food, didn't I?" I retorted.

"And we all thank you for it," Yumi said before taking a bite of food.

"Seriously. This is the first time I've had breakfast that didn't come from a fast food place in a long time," Ulrich said.

"You're welcome. Now eat," I said, pouring syrup now.

"Sweet dreams are made of these," Aelita said melodiously, and I paused with a grin on my face.

"Who am I to disagree?" I recited, my grin growing wider.

"Not this early in the morning, you two!" Yumi exclaimed, but she looked highly amused.

"Spoilsport," I said, closing the cap on the syrup.

"Something I miss?" my dad asked.

"Ever since these two became a thing, they just randomly break into song. I get that they have a singing career to look forward to, but still," Yumi said.

"You act as if our singing isn't good," Aelita said in an as a matter of fact tone.

"It is. But how about we all just talk instead of you two singing? After all, we are in his family's household," Jeremy reminded, gesturing his head towards my dad and sister.

"I'm more interested in what she said," Autumn said, turning to me. "You sing?"

"Yup. I've gotten good at it. Even though I'd say Princess over here is better than me at it," I said, looking over to her with a grin.

"He's right," Aelita said with the straightest face. I rolled my eyes as each of my friends laughed. Autumn was stone faced and my dad was just sticking to his food while surveying the whole thing. Smiles quickly disappeared, and I just opted on eating a piece of food.

"Singing career, huh? Yet you're still going to college," my dad said.

"I'm not going into it without a backup. Don't get me wrong. I'm good at what I do. But I want a backup plan. In case anything happens," I told him.

"That's smart," my dad told me.

"It's why I'm doing it," I said.

"Is that why you're leaving?" Autumn asked.

"Partially," I said evenly, and she looked toward Aelita before looking back at me.

"Is it because of her?" she asked.

"Partially," I said, my tone getting a slight bit impatient.

"Over your own family?" Autumn said, which made me slam my fork on the table suddenly and loudly.

"Is there something you want to talk about?" I said, my tone quiet.

"Autumn..." my dad started, but I waved him down.

"No. Let her say what she wants," I said, placing my fork down on my plate and leaning back in my chair. "Go ahead. You have the floor."

"You're leaving your family for a bunch of strangers!" Autumn exclaimed.

"I love these people," I told her.

"More than your own family?" Autumn said.

"Honestly? Yes. Because this has been my family for the past few years. And they acted like it more than we ever did," I told her.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Autumn said.

"You're living in a fantasy world if you ever though we actually acted like a family since we were kids! We almost never talked, our mom was a hermit, and our dad was a deadbeat! Where the hell in your mind were there ever any family activities? We haven't been a family ever since we left Pine Bluff. Ever since the divorce. I didn't know how to be a person around them at first. Cause I was so busy shutting myself off from the world. That's how I functioned to get through life," I explained, heat entering my tone. "It wasn't good for our mom, so it sure as hell wasn't going to be good for me. These five taught me how to _live._ How there was far more to life outside of staying in your own room the entire time. You understand what it's like to feel alive for the first time in your goddamn life?! To have a purpose in life?! It took me nearly dying to realize that!"

Now I was yelling, my hands balled into fists as I stood on my feet. I could feel Aelita grab my shoulder, which calmed me some. I took a deep breath before looking at Autumn. She just looked down at the table, tears streaming down her face. I looked at my dad, and he looked ashamed. I didn't want to air my issues over the freaking breakfast table. But that's exactly what just happened.

"Dammit, I thought I had come to terms with this dumb shit already..." I mumbled, rubbing my forehead with one hand. I pushed my chair up. "I'm going for some air. Aelita? Come with?"

"Don't even have to ask," she said, and I nodded. I unlocked the door and opened it before leaning on the wall outside, my feet not even bothered by the hot pavement. I've dealt with worse.

Aelita came to join me soon after, putting a hand on my shoulder with that soft look on her face I loved her for.

"You want to talk about it?" she asked.

"No. You kind of heard it all," I said, looking down. "I thought I was over this."

"You were always obtuse when it came to your own emotions. It's no surprise that you wouldn't have known unless faced with it again," Aelita told me.

"My mind sort of blocked it out, I guess. A self defense mechanism so I wouldn't have to cope with the reality of it all. I think I picked it up when that grandfather clock nearly crushed me when I was a kid. It hurt like hell and I felt like I was about to die, but it didn't scare me weirdly enough. It was painful, sure. But not emotionally scarring," I explained. "Stands to reason why I would block out the idea of my own father leaving. If that doesn't leave impressions on a kid, I don't know what will."

"Your sister seems to hate all of us for your leaving," Aelita said.

"I don't care. She's not changing my mind," I said firmly.

"That I don't doubt. But do you really want to leave on a bad note?" Aelita asked.

"Of course I don't. But that might be impossible with how she's acting," I said.

"With you coming back, there was the possibility of all of you becoming a family again. I think that's why she's upset," Aelita said.

"Again? It's been years since we've truly been a family," I said.

"There's always one option. That device you brought us here with... ...can't you keep it intact? So they can visit you?" Aelita asked.

"I could, but I don't want to leave any option of something like this happening again. People died because of this experiment they ran. Not all were as lucky as me to find a home. A career. Close friends and a lover. I could've just as easily died like any of them had I not adapted or had your help. That's one thing I will not forget. It's why I want to see to it that this cycle ends," I explained to her. "As much as both ways would be nice, it's a huge risk."

"I see. But just know that close or not, they are your family. They will miss you," Aelita told me.

"I know. The weekend ends tomorrow. There's already enough to handle upon our return. So I'll make the most of today," I said.

* * *

I decided to start by getting my dad to go on a drive with me. He was the one driving, as he was the only one who had a driver's license that matched up with this year and dimension as a matter of fact. But the whole purpose was to talk.

"You leave tomorrow?" my dad asked.

"Yes. I've already missed a day because I was pulled back into this world. I don't want to waste any more time," I said.

"You sound so cold to all of this," my dad said.

"Because it's the best way I can stop myself from going mad over the situation," I told him.

"You're already building a family of your own, I see. I can see the way you look that girl. Aelita. You love her," my dad told me.

"More than anything. I will defend her and my friends to my last breath. Horribly enough, I would've died for them if not for her father saving my life. I owe these people my lives. My devotion. And they don't even ask of it. They earned it," I explained.

"What about us?" my dad asked, and here he pulled over to the side of the curb.

"This again?" I said, slamming my head on the back of the seat.

"Yes this again," my dad told me, and this time, his voice was hard.

"What do you want to hear? Hmm? That you failed me as a father? That you failed our family? Cause it fell apart right after you cheated," I told him, my voice growing an edge too.

"I was young and stupid!" he yelled.

"I'm even younger, but I risked my lives for people I didn't know! I value my friends and the people I love, dammit! You threw that all away over some cheap whore and a fun night!" I yelled, slamming my fist on the dashboard. "I remember how brokenhearted mom was after it all. It scared me seeing her cry. And it wasn't until years later I learned why."

"You dad was stupid, alright?" he said calmly, but his eyes grew misty.

"I know you were. Because the day I do what you did to Aelita is the day I jump off a cliff. You have my full permission to stab me in the heart twenty times if I ever do something like this. Because there isn't a damn thing I wouldn't do to avoid seeing her cry. I saved her father's life and gave her my love. That is the most I could do, and I'll be damned if I throw it away for this broken farce of a family," I hissed, gripping my fists tightly. "There is one thing I will give you. It took a lot of guts to come back and do what you did. Even after my supposed coma."

"It took me years to get it all together. Eventually, your mother forgave me. Question is, can you?" my dad asked.

"That's a question I don't have the answer to yet. I normally forgive fast, but this has been bottled up for years. Forgiveness is has a very low chance of triumphing," I told him.

"Is this why you wanted to take a drive?" my dad asked.

"We needed to have a talk. You may be trying to rebuild the family, but you broke it in the first place. The company and corrupt government just scattered the pieces. If you want to prove to me that you've changed, continue taking care of them. I don't care what you have to do. Do not walk away like you did the last time," I explained to him.

"You don't even have to tell me to do that. But I'm sorry, if it's any consolation," my dad said.

"It's not. Because you're not the one who taught me to drive. Mr. Ishiyama, Yumi's dad, taught me how to do that. Mrs. Ishiyama showed me how to cook. Aelita's dad showed me how to shave. These people also motivated me; gave me the advice needed later in the future. In another life, you might've taught me this stuff. But you didn't. Because I think you need to learn how to be a real man before you decide to be a father to me," I explained before turning towards the window. "I've said all I've needed to say. Take us back to the house."

* * *

"Enjoy your drive?" Odd asked cheerfully.

"No," I said rather sourly. "He's still out in the car. Might not come in for a while. What are you all doing?"

"You mom let us borrow her laptop. We found this dimension's search engine, and when we put our names in, we found our show!" Odd exclaimed, showing the screen to me. They ended up making to partway into the second episode. "Our theme song was awesome. Not to mention I look really cool animated."

"You didn't just say that," Ulrich said.

"Hey, we all look good animated," Yumi said.

"That's because everyone looks better animated," I said, starting to crack a small smile.

"This is true," Aelita said with a grin.

"Speak for yourselves. I look like a stereotypical geek," Jeremy said.

"Back then, you kinda were Jer," Ulrich said, elbowing his buddy on the arm.

"I resent that!" Jeremy exclaimed with a smile on his face.

"But you don't deny it," Yumi said with a smirk.

"I hate you all," Jeremy said, making each of us laugh. This group always found ways to cheer me up. It's why I liked them so much.

"Where's everyone else?" I asked.

"Your mom went to her room, and I can assume your sister went upstairs to hers," Aelita told me.

"More unpleasant conversation after another. Great. Just stay here and for goodness sakes, keep away from the front of the door," I said in an exasperated tone.

"I'll make sure everyone stays. _Right,_ Odd?" Aelita said, snatching on his ear.

"Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow! I'll, stay! I'll stay!" he exclaimed. Aelita let go of his ear and I walked towards my mom's door. I stopped for a moment before knocking.

"Who is it?" my mom asked.

"Your son," I said before cracking the door. "Spare a few minutes?"

"Boy, get in here. Like you have to ask," my mom said, gesturing swiftly to the side. I entered and closed the door. "You're so tall."

"I grew a lot. More than just physically," I said, holding out my arms.

"I can see that. You seem more... active. More willing to do stuff," my mom said.

"That's all a product of where I went and how it changed me. It wasn't happening here," I told her.

"Tell me, what have we done wrong? Why won't you stay?" my mom asked.

"You don't have to ask what dad did. That we all know, already. But as for you... inactivity was your only killer. Otherwise, you were a fine mother," I told her.

"I suppose I did lock myself off after the divorce. That was my fault," my mom said.

"Believe me. I've had a broken heart before. It wasn't even on anyone I seriously loved, and it still hurt like crazy. So I can imagine that was rough on you. But you still had kids of your own to raise. Did you ever think we would function normally without any emotional support from you?" I questioned. "Either the person's going to find it from somewhere else or not try and find it at all. Did you truly believe that would work?"

"No. Before your daddy showed up..."

"For the love of God, please do not call him that. Besides private reasons, I'm not six anymore," I asked.

"Before your dad had shown up, the problems of everything started showing. Autumn was acting out, and... you know what the deal is with Shel," my mom said.

"Pregnant in her last year of high school," I said, and my mom nodded. "Least it wasn't dab in the middle. She ever go to college?"

"She's managing. She still can't believe you're alive, you know. It freaked her out," my mom told me.

"I can imagine. But I have a question. I've been in my share of fights. I've mastered quite a different form of martial arts, and I can crack some skulls if need be. Question is, do I have to do it to my sister's baby daddy for not taking responsibility? Believe me, that is one thing I will prolong my return for," I told him.

"I'll ask. But I'm sure you won't have anything to worry about," my mom said.

"I better not," I said, my tone hard. But it leveled out right after. "But back to where we left off."

"Yes. The only thing we were really missing from our family was... you. But you were off living your own life, and we missed it all. You say you love this girl?" my mom asked.

"Her name is Aelita. And yes. Love her to death," I told her.

"And you believe she could become your wife?" my mom asked.

"Eventually. When I feel as if we're ready," I said.

"She can give you the life you want?" my mom asked.

"Most certainly. What's with all the questions?" I asked.

"I just want to be certain. That you're being taken care of. Many kids say they fall in love at your age, and regret it tremendously," my mom said.

"I'm not a sixteen year old who just started dating his first girl, and has no idea of standards in a woman before saying he loves her. Me and Aelita have history. And that's why I can firmly say I love her. We risked our lives for each other on the daily before. I taught her what it means to be cared for as a woman, and she taught me how to be cared for as a man. Life threatening situations teach you what normal situations can much faster," I explained to her.

"I'm just upset you were even in those situations in the first place," my mom said.

"I am too. But I blame XANA and the idiots that sent me to Lyoko in the first place. Still, I wouldn't trade the experiences. They taught me a lot," I told her.

"I'm just sorry I didn't teach you anything," my mom said, and I grabbed her hand as I sat at the foot of her bed.

"Not entirely true. I just had to learn by doing the opposite. Even then, you could've been a far worse mother, and then I would've hated you and not had any reason to even really stay. But here I am," I said.

"When you leave, any chance to fix my mistakes will be gone," my mom said.

"We all make decisions we live to regret. Question is, what are you going to do from that point? My suggestion? Be better than before. That's how you thrive. Help Shel out, and for God's sake, keep an eye on Autumn. Don't let her pull what Shel did. At least make sure she gets out of high school before getting knocked up. Good God, cause I will find a way to master inter-dimensional travel just to set anyone straight," I told her.

"That much I'll promise you," my mom said, and I nodded. "As long as you act responsibly while you're... wherever you go."

"I'm in college, mom. Me and Aelita share our own apartment. I guarantee you, if we cared to start sex early, we would've by now. But I've got morals, and so does she," I told her.

"At least you found a girl with some sense," my mom said.

"Believe me. A lot more of them existence in that dimension. As well as significantly less greedy, ignorant, and dumb people, which is nice," I said, making her smile.

"Must be nice. Mind staying for a while? Just so we can talk?" my mom asked.

"Of course," I said with no hesitation.

* * *

A/N: I was tempted to divide this, but I went ahead and made it one chapter. Now there should be like 1 or 2 more chapters left in this story before it's finished. This last section was sort of haphazardly put together with actual situations with my family, so it may not be the most interesting read, but I like it because it tells my story in a way. But after a long number of chapters, we will soon wrap this story up! Stay tuned.


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